What is the Good News I Believe? Before creation Father, Son, and Spirit dwelt in perfect mutual love and honor and fellowship. The God-head determined, out of that love, to have us share in their mutual love and fellowship. He intended us to KNOW him (Eph. 1). The Father values humanity so much that he refused to continue to be God without making the divine Son a human being (Jesus) and therefore bringing a human being into the God-head itself to represent us. There is a human being, the God man Jesus, forever in the trinity. He loved humanity that much. Adam and Eve were tempted to become like God when in truth they were already in the likeness and image of God. The tree was...do the good and avoid the evil and you can become like God. It is the root of all false religion. When that sin entered, darkness of heart called blindness entered and humanity could not understand what God was like, so they could not know him or enjoy his life. The Law came not to make us holy, (Gal 2:21) but to bring our striving to the surface and reveal that it doesnt work (Rom 7:8-9). We cant know God by the works of Law which are do good and Ill bless you, do bad and ill curse you (Deut 27). Jesus comes and represents all humanity as the Son of Man, but in the flesh reveals what the Father is like as the Son of God. Hes taking away our blindness. The high priest (John 11) unknowingly chose Jesus as the Lamb to slaughter, the scapegoat for our sins and provoked the people to kill Jesus. Just like the priests and/or the people of the OT killed the lamb, now they kill Jesus. Wicked men put Jesus on the cross, crucified him and put him to death. (49 And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all,50 nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. 53 Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death. John 11) God did not kill an innocent man on the cross. That would make God a murderer. God presented humanity with a spotless Lamb. God did not kill the lambs in the OT either, btw. He provided the perfect Lamb who absorbs our sins in himself. Then what does he do with our sins? On the cross Jesus does the will of the Father in revealing the heart and forgiveness of God. And unknown to them, because he was representing all humanity in his body, 2 Corinthians 5 says, if Christ died for all, then all died. Think about that! He died our death and buried our sins, guilt, shame, condemnation forever because he literally represents us in his incarnation. He was raised on the third day separating us from that sin, guilt and shame forever. He ascended to the Father and sprinkled his blood on the mercy seat, which is a message to us forever that mercy triumphs over judgment. The blood is not for Gods sake. It doesnt change Gods mind about us. He loved us before the cross. It reveals his heart for us. It is for us, for our sake. The blood is not a magical incantation I shout to protect me from demons. It is on the mercy seat proclaiming mercy to me forever. It is a message I am to believe. When we believe he was raised, our hearts receive the salvation he was raised into. (Romans 10) We die to ourselves because that old person doesnt exist, and we accept the new definition... I am forgiven, accepted, perfectly loved, righteous, and holy. Did you know thats who you are in Christ? (Eph 1) We dont try to do good and avoid evil for the purpose of becoming like God. We have been made like him through him dying and burying our guilt, shame and condemnation. By raising us spiritually with him, we through faith/trust start to live according to his definition of us. We are in Him, therefore we are holy, righteous, accepted, etc. (Eph 1) Therefore, says Paul, put on the new man, the new identity, and put off the old identity so that by experience I become and reveal the image of God once again. I am being conformed to the image of Christ not because I try to do good and avoid evil. I have Christ...the tree of life... inside me. I yield to my true identity and his life in me and my life is effortlessly transformed. He is the Vine, I am the branch. I am, spiritually speaking, in heaven now, seated with Christ in heavenly places. God has brought me into the fellowship of Father, Son, and Spirit through the resurrection of Christ (Col 3). He loves me the exact same way he loves the Son. He rejoices over me the same way Father rejoices over Jesus (John 17) When I die physically, I go to heaven, (to be absent from the body is to be present with The Lord) but I dont become a Christian for the purpose of heaven. I am a Christian to display the love of Christ, the image of God, in everything I do. Jesus is the light of the world. Then he says we are the light of the world. This is eternal life, that I may know Him. To know Him! Jesus brought me into His fellowship with the Father so I can know him. Jesus is the way to the Father, so I can know Him, not simply a ticket to heaven. I get to know him and make him known. One day, I believe, when the knowledge of the glory of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea... (Habakkuk 2:14) ...when the kingdom of God has permeated every area of society (Mat 13:33), when he has established justice and righteousness in the earth (Isa 9:7) ...when he has put every enemy on earth, including death, under his feet (1 Cor. 15:25)... then we will get a brand new resurrection body and heaven and earth will be one forever.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 04:10:19 +0000
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