All in Redemption
There are two parts to spiritual salvation, and there are two parts to the salvation of countries, churches, and peoples. The first part changes who we are, and the second part fills us with God’s essence. We find Jesus Christ who renews us, and then we receive the Holy Spirit which is the understanding of God. Do you have both? Is your country prepared to be fixed and restored to God?
Today is Christmas Day, and all of Christianity is celebrating the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, but on this day, and at this time, we are waiting once again, not for His birth, but for His triumphant return. Yet, in His absence He has sent another... the Holy Spirit. He is our helper, and declares to us the truths that are of our Lord Jesus, and the Holy Father. Have you opened your eyes to Him?
Have you been prepared to become a son or daughter of God? By that I mean, has God brought you to the place where you see that the world (although filled with great beauty) doesn’t hold a candle to what awaits you, and that you come to him readily? God gave Israel into the hands of Egypt for 430 years so that they might become receptive to Him. Then following His rescue He led them for another 40 years in the desert before they were truly redeemed. Have you been redeemed? Are you ready to come out of the wilderness?
When we look around the world today we see such an overwhelming mess; killing, hatred, carnal sins of every description... the list seems to have no end, and it’s depth is bottomless. Becoming overwhelmed by Satan’s handiwork is easy, and letting it make us despondent, or allowing ourselves to be caught up in it can be equally easy. Is this world too big for God’s love and forgiveness? Is what we see too much for Jesus to carry onto the cross?
Are you really the free person who Christ redeemed? Did Jesus pay your ransom only to find that you could not separate yourself from the sin from which he had saved you? Or, perhaps you are like the Galatians who found themselves tempted to leave the freedom Jesus had secured for them in order to chain themselves to the Law of an old faithfulness. My word for you this morning is to claim and accept the freedom whose cost was so dearly paid for you.
Even before you waited on the LORD He was waiting on you. I know a man who would like to think that God’s mercy and grace is bestowed cart blanch to even those who do not believe in Him... the one true God of Abraham, Moses, and Isaac. This man would like to think that he can obtain the grace and forgiveness associated with Jesus without believing in Him as the Son of God, or obeying His commandments and teaching. This is not so, and yet God waits on this man with open arms.
What will we look like in heaven? I have heard that question many times, and heard it put in many different ways. Young healthy people ask it in curiosity, and the aged or infirmed ask it in fear, or dread. Can we really know? Let’s explore some scripture regarding our redemption bodies.
When we think of the ransom that was paid for us by Jesus, it is easy to think about that ransom being paid to some entity, or to someone, for us, but this is not the case. Who would be powerful enough to hold us ransom from God? No, we are ransomed from the sin and death that is within us... the very punishment that was created and placed there by God Himself. God is ransoming us from His own steadfast law against sin... against the imbalance of wrong that became inherent in us.
Do you think that you are too far gone to be salvaged? Are you too embarrassed to come before Jesus and ask for forgiveness and a new life? When you look at your past do you think it is too filthy and torn to ever be made new once more? Well think again because the blood of Jesus Christ can wash away any stain, and mend the holes in every garment in life.
It is Ressurection Sunday, and JESUS LIVES! He made a statement to Martha, the sister of Lazarus, about the transience of death as it pertained to those who believed in Him, and on this day He made good His Word! Today sin and death were defeated, and hope and faith became reality.
Do you have the blood of Jesus on the sides, and above the door of your life? Is your lintel smeared with the promise of eternal life? If we were to walk back in time, and down the streets of Egypt, we would see the very real blood of Passover lambs on the doorways of houses, but the Holy Spirit reveals to us the spiritual reality of that act; it shows us the power of the blood of Jesus Christ to in our lives; it makes tangible the promises of God... grace, forgiveness, and everlasting life.
When we look at life we know that there is only room for one God, person, or thing at the pentacle of it. When we look at ourselves we don’t see a Mesa, or a plateau, we see a peak... the spire that is our ultimate point of existence. So what will we place there? What will occupy the highest point in our life, will it be the God of Abraham, Jesus Christ, some created form of mock spirituality, financial success, physical prowess, or another worldly desire? The decision must be made, and the champion of our lives placed at the crest.
Jesus suffered and died to redeem us from sin, but what is sin really? Is it a rule that we break or more than that? Certainly it is bad that a rule is broken, but at its core we are rebelling against God in so doing; we are separating ourselves from His will. Sometimes we sin knowingly, but often we do so without really understanding what we are doing, and occasionally by simply turning away from doing what is right. So is there a way to “sin no more?”
This morning we celebrate the moment in Time when God became man. On this day, so many years ago, Jesus Christ was born to a virgin in Bethlehem. I would say that this was the beginning of God’s plan to redeem mankind, but that plan was actually conceived at the very moment of creation, even before Adam and Eve had realized sin, and continues on today.
On this day, Christmas Eve, we are in great expectation of a tiny baby’s arrival into the lineage of David... the Christ Child, Jesus, Emanuel, the Son of God. He will be born in Bethlehem, and a star will shine bright inside each of us to show the way to where He will be held to His mother’s breast. Are you ready to make the journey to where He will be born into the world; into each of us? Is the anticipation of His coming calling you even now to where Angels announce Him?