Hebrews 11: 1 - 3 NKJV
If someone approached you with the claim that the morning sky was red what would your reaction be? By the same token, if you were told that gravity had ceased to exist how would you react? Well, if you were like most rational people, you would disregard these claims as bunk. See, we KNOW that the sky is blue. We KNOW that those laws of gravity still exist each and every day. It's just a truth we've come to accept. I thought about this this week as I thought about our own realization of just how close Christ Jesus is to us. In my last post I claimed that traditional christian teachings have failed us, and I stand by that claim. I've come to the conclusion that if you're told something often enough, it eventually becomes accepted as true. So, what are we told about Jesus? Well, we're told that Jesus was born of a virgin in a little manger in Bethlehem. We're told that Jesus spent His life teaching the gospel. We're told that He was tortured, bled, died and on the third day He rose again. However, here is where the waters get muddied a bit in what we've been taught about the man Jesus. After His reseurection, apparetnly Jesus high tailed it back to heaven, away from Gods children, in order to reside in righteousness. I get it. I mean, Jesus couldn't possibly reside here on earth in the midst of such sinful men...could he? Accepting this as truth, most christians live day to day in a struggle to live more like Christ. I was there also. Jesus was in heaven, looking down upon me from His lofty perch. I had no connection with Him nor with the Lord I served. In fact, there was a disconnect. Was this really how God wanted me to live my life? This was the truth of Jesus I had come to accept.
20“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galations 2:20 NKJV
I don't recall the date, but at some point a good friend of mine approached me with the outrageous claim that the morning sky was red. Well, not exactly, but he approached me with something just as unbelievable in my eyes. This mans herecy asked me to accept as truth that Jesus was not as far from me as I had been led to believe. Not only that, he backed up his claims with scriptures and more teaching! It seems that Christ Jesus, far from being seperated from me in heaven, was alive and well in me. You can imagine my skepticism at this new idea. However, the more I came to listen, the more that the truth of Jesus was revealed to me. Where everyday christian life had been a struggle for me, I was told that it did not need to be. Instead of living a life looking for Christ, I could live a life IN Christ Jesus. This was something no pulpit pounder had ever introduced me to. The funny thing was, as I embraced the truth of Christ in me, I found that freedom which Jesus had spoke of in scripture. Could this be the life which God had intended for me? For us? Like I said, this new teaching flew in the face of all which I had been taught about Jesus. However, just because something goes against what the crowd is saying does not mean it's the wrong thing...right? These days I see the very same reaction in others which I must have had upon my first realization of Christ in me. Whether it's faith or trust, we eventually gently led into the revelation of the truth of the man Jesus. Knowing in our own hearts that He is here with us.
~Scott~
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