More than someday

At its heart, the plan of salvation is really quite simple: I am a sinner and I am separated from God.  God, in His great love, sent Jesus to earth to live a sinless life and to take the punishment for my sin.  He died and then God brought Him back to life.  Because Jesus was brought back to life, He conquered not only sin, but death.  If I believe all of this, and accept Jesus’ death and resurrection as payment for my sin, I will live forever in Heaven with God.

Simple, right?  If you’re anything like me, you’ve been hearing this for most of your life, you’ve probably prayed some version of the “Sinners Prayer” and in your mind, you’re all set.  And if you’re anything like me, you went to church yesterday, and you took Communion.  You remembered Jesus’ death and you thanked Him for saving you and taking care of your sins.  You thanked Him for the gift of eternal life, and then you went on with the rest of the service like you do every Sunday.

Our salvation through Christ ensures that we will live and reign forever with Him.  Our salvation gives us a future and a hope.  Our salvation gives us a Someday.

But as I sat in church yesterday with a little piece of Matzah in the palm of my hand and a sip of juice in a tiny plastic cup, I was reminded of this truth: My salvation gives me more than a Someday.  My salvation gives me a Today.  Today, because Jesus’ blood paid for my sin and removed the separation, I can rely on God for every moment.  Today, I can trust that He loves me and knows my every need. 

Today, because God sent His only Son to die for my sins and come back to life, I have a personal, intimate relationship with the God of the universe who hears every prayer I pray and who guides and ordains every moment of my life.  Because Jesus died for me, I have Today. 

Someday seems so far away, and in fact, the idea of “forever” hurts my brain, so I tend not to think about it much.  If I’m really honest, most of the time, I’m just not that excited about Heaven.  It’s such an abstract concept and I know so little about it, so I have a hard time giving it a lot of thought.  On the other hand, I think about Today an awful lot. 

But the same Savior who gives us Someday gives us Today.   The same plan of salvation that seals our future, carries us through every moment of every day until we get to our Someday.  And for that I am eternally grateful!

How often do you think about Heaven?  What does your salvation make possible for you today?

 

Independence Day

Yesterday in the US, we celebrated our Independence Day – the day we decided we were no longer going to be subject to an abusive power.  But I celebrate my Independence Day on December 2.  That was the day I decided I was no longer going to be subject to the abusive power of sin and death.  On that day, I chose to find my freedom in Christ, my liberty in the cross.  From that day forward, I was:

• Free from guilt.
• Free to worship.
• Free from shame.
• Free to pray.
• Free from sin.
• Free to serve.
• Free from death.
• Free to live.

Because God loves us, he sent His Son to the world.  Jesus lived a sinless, guiltless, shameless life, free to worship, pray, love and serve His Father.  He died, taking on Him all of the evil of the world.  He shed His blood, offering up the only fully-acceptable sacrifice for sin, tearing apart the veil that separated us from God.  And he came back to life, destroying the power of death so that we can live without fear.  His death gave us life.  His resurrection gave us freedom.  And if that’s not a reason to celebrate, I don’t know what is!

When is your Independence Day?  Should it be today?

 

And now you know…the REST of the story

One of my most vivid memories from childhood is riding in my mom’s gold-colored Chevelle, on the way to see my dad at his store, listening to – what I believed was the only station the radio could play – WOR and hearing Paul Harvey tell “The Rest of the Story”.  Specifically, I remember that every time we went under a bridge, the signal would cut out and we’d miss a few words.  I don’t remember that ever really being a problem as far as getting the gist of what was being said.  Rather, I think it formed my ability to fill in blanks in conversations and strengthened my critical thinking skills more than anything I encountered in school.

Today, I want to look at a story that, until quite recently, always baffled me.  I suspect I’m not alone in my bafflement… I mentioned the other day the story of Jesus’ first miracle – turning water into wine.  I grew up hearing this story and for a while I thought “hey, that’s cool – Jesus could make this water I’m drinking into Kool-Aid if He wanted to!”  As I got older, my wonderment turned to wondering: “Water into wine?  Ok, but…why?”

Like so many stories in the Bible, the “because” comes only when we understand what was going on in the background (aka, the REST of the story).  In ancient times, it was the groom’s responsibility to provide the food and drink for a wedding reception.  To run out of either was considered a humiliating social faux pax – something that would be gossiped about for years.  Jesus, knowing this, steps in and saves the groom from ending up on the cover of People in an embarrassing situation.

While some may look at this miracle and think it was kind of pointless in the grand scheme of things, I now, after some research and a little inspiration have come to a different conclusion:  Jesus’ act of turning water into wine to save a man from an uncomfortable position is a foreshadowing of the purpose behind His death:

• He saves the man from the shame of having run short just like He saves us from the shame of falling short.
• He saves the man from the disgrace of letting his guests down just like He saves us from the disgrace of letting God down.
• He shows compassion to the man who made a mistake just like He shows compassion to us in extending forgiveness for our sins.
• He brings new life to the party with the best wine anyone had ever tasted just like He brings new life to us with a hope and a future we can’t even imagine.

Jesus’ first miracle so closely parallels His second.  In Cana, his actions became that man’s supply.  He saved him from embarrassment.  He redeemed a potentially humiliating situation.  He showed Himself to be the friend that man needed.  In His resurrection He became our Supply, our Savior, our Redeemer, and our Friend.

What story in the Bible has always baffled you?  What has it taught you about Jesus?