Romans 5: 3 - 4 NKJV
I was thinking this week on a sermon I heard a radio pastor tell one Christmas season. He talked not only of the birth of the Savior, but of His journey to the cross as well. It was one statement that has stuck with me all this time. "As Jesus hung upon that cross He had to know that the Father had left Him, if for a short time." Being a baby Christian at the time, my first thought was, would God ever leave me in my time of need? When times get tough, does God simply shrink away back to His throne in heaven? Well, if this were the case, we would never be able to walk with God in our lives. For as soon as some tragedy strikes, He would immediately turn tail and leave us to our own devices. I a strong believer in the knowledge of walking with Jesus, I live it every day. The apostle Paul has told us that it is Christ who lives through us {Galatians 2:20}. So, if Christ is in me, where can I ever go that Jesus is not present? What situation will I ever encounter where Jesus is not walking with me? To think that the Father would ever leave me, or His only Son, is Ludacris. The knowledge of Christ Jesus in us seldom allows for feelings of separation, for we know in our hearts that He is all in all. However, it is indeed the accusers lies of separation that constantly try to tell us that God is simply too holy, too perfect and too busy to be involved in our lives. We see this just before the fall in the garden. "Has God indeed said"?{Genesis 3:1} This is Satan striking right at the heart of what we know to be true. The trouble is, we've bought into it hook line and sinker. Let me just say that there is NO separation between the Father and ourselves. There never has been {Isaiah 41:10}. I won't get into just how much traditional church teachings have fostered the idea that we have been or are separated from God. I've been down that road before. Instead, I will focus on the truth that I know in my heart. For those of you Christians who live and die by the written word, you'll enjoy this. I was created in the Fathers image {Genesis 1:27}. He breathed into me the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}. Not only am I my Fathers image, but I have my Father in me! What more reassurance do I need that He is in me? What more confidence do I need that I will never walk alone? This is the knowing of Christ Jesus in me.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
John 14: 18 NKJV
Sinner! Yeah, I've heard that one before too. Scott, you're wrong, God can never be in the presence of sin, and ALL have sinned {Romans 3:23}. Yes, all HAVE sinned...past tense. However, but for Christ, our fate would be sealed. What good would it be for Jesus to die on that cross to forgive our sins and not deal with the sin issue? Sure, my sins would be forgiven, but what about the next time I sinned? How many times would Jesus need to hang to cover our transgressions? I wouldn't want to be that one to send Jesus to the cross time after time. Can you see how our sin issue needed to be dealt with as well? Well, through Christ it was put to death forever. It was Jesus who became sin on our account {2 Corinthians 5:21}. When Christ died, sin died along with Him. Paul reminds us of this in Romans {Romans 6:6-11}. Indeed, we are to now consider ourselves DEAD to sin {Romans 6:11}. So, not only are our sins forgiven, but we're now dead to sin and have Christ Jesus in us. I call that a win. So, what is it that is keeping you from walking with Jesus? What is it that is keeping you from the realization that you were created in His mage and that you have the Father in you? A Sunday school story? A pastors sermon? I get it. Yet, the truth of Christ cannot be hidden. If you live and die by scripture, then you must come face to face with the words of Paul in Romans and Galatians. Do we cast aside certain scriptures simply because they speak to something we don't understand? Do that if you must, but that still doesn't explain what is written in the word. What is written is that all have sinned. Because all have sinned, Jesus bled and died for the forgiveness of our trespasses. Not only that, He put sin to death once and for all. Of course, He accomplished all of this that we would walk AS Jesus. This is the truth of Christ.
Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV
~Scott~
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