Allowances part 2
There's something about the Law of Moses that always struck me as a little bit weird. We seem to have this idea of an angry Old Covenant God who was ready, willing, and able to strike at the slightest provocation... and yet, He set up an entire system of animal sacrifice to make sure that when the people inevitably DID mess up... they were covered. He made allowances for what was, at that time--before the cross--"human nature." Look at what Romans 3:23 tells us about life under the Law, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." And in fact, that was the state of humanity before the Law was even ever given. That's what happened when Adam sinned. Because at that time we were in him. But God made allowances. At the appointed time He sent His Son to be lifted up from the earth and draw us all out of Adam and into Himself. So that we would no longer be stuck with that Adam "human" nature. So that we would no longer be ruled by our selfish beast nature. So that we might have a new nature. A love nature. Or a new name, if I can say it that way. Which is what Revelation 2:17 says, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To hiim that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." And I believe that new name is Jesus. Our new nature is Jesus. But you have to RECEIVE that before you can KNOW it, so I'll leave that alone for now. What I want to focus on is the truth that "messing up" does not disqualify us. Even under the Law it didn't. Because, again, there was an entire system of animal sacrifice. And here's the really weird part: We say, "I've messed up. I've fallen from grace." When in fact, according to Galatians 5:4 (NLT) there is only one way to fall from grace. "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace." Because here's the deal: We are not under the Law. We are under grace. Jesus nailed the Law to the cross because it was contrary to us. It was against us. It could only point out what we did wrong, without being able to help us do right. It demanded perfection without being able to produce perfection. That's the OPPOSITE of grace. Grace doesn't worry about what we DO. Grace tells us who we ARE. Who we REALLY are. And falling from grace doesn't mean you messed up. God's not afraid of your mess. In fact, it seems to me that He delights in making messages out of messes. Falling from grace means you've put yourself under the Law. You're trying to earn something that can't be earned through external actions. The GIFT of God is eternal life. And you can't earn a gift. You must RECEIVE it, and RELEASE it. You must know it and believe it. You must stop disqualifying yourself from something that JESUS qualified you for. It's not about external actions. Good and evil. It's about what's inside. Love. Life. Eternal, everlasting, abundant, Resurrection Life. And if it's eternal... then it doesn't end. So no matter how long it takes--no matter how many times you stumble and fall--God has made allowances for you to be able to run the race. To find out who you really are by finding out who HE really is in you... as He reveals Himself to you, and in you, and through you, and as you!