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Saturday, October 30, 2004
In my entry yesterday I talked about what robs our joy...which is really the first half of the Gospel. I mean, in America we do a very good job of reducing the most complex truths in history down to four points.
What robs our joy is the cold, stark reality that we are sinners. This creates a problem since we know that God is holy, and holiness and sin can't mix. So, humanity has a big problem in that God and man can't have a relationship since they are wholly "other."
And, make no mistake about it. Sin is serious business to God. So much so that H made a temporary "covering" (or atonement) for sin in the Old Testament. People could sacrifice innocent animals that would allow God to "cover" their sin temporarily if their hearts were genuine in making the sacrifice. But that meant that they would also be psychologically dealing with their sin and consequences on a day-in, day-out basis...
...far from a joyful life if they were living it right.
The "covering" was only a temporary way for them to have that relationship, too. See, it only lasted until the next sacrifice. It was like smelly trash in a trash can. If you take the lid off the trash can, it smells really bad. But once you "cover" the can with the lid, it doesn't smell bad anymore. The hitch is that there is still trash in there that will stink without the "cover."
The heart of the Good News comes from Christ.
John the Baptist, in reference to Christ in John 1, said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." So, when Christ came, He did more than just become a temporary sacrifice like those in the Old Testament, He actually got rid of it once and for all. He didn't just "cover" the trash can lid...He took the trash of our lives, put it in the truck and drove the truck away. Our guilt is gone.
Because guilt is real, it has to go somewhere. That's seen in the description of the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16. Two goats were there for the sacrifice. One was sacrificed to God. The other, called the scapegoat, had sin placed on him, and he was let go from the tabernacle...the sin of the people was symbolically taken away from God.
And that's what Jesus did for us. He took our real guilt/sin and took it away from God. Now we can have a life that is free because we can have fellowship once and for all with God, not having to be reminded of the clutter of our lives practically moment-by-moment, only to have it temporarily covered. Now it's gone, and we can enjoy fellowship with a holy God through Christ, because He lives (which is a complete volume of blogs within itself) in us and through us.
That...
...is very Good News indeed.
So the obvious question in having joy: Are you enjoying your relationship with Christ? If not, what can be done to "fix" that?
Brent 6:30 AM
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