Crossed Out part 2
The cross crossed out the Old Man. That old, obsolete "good vs evil" way of thinking. Why? So that we could walk in NEWNESS of life! Abundant life. A life full of love. That's what happened when Jesus cursed the fig tree--the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It withered and died. And we know that Jesus cursed that tree because it wouldn't--couldn't--bear any fruit. God wanted something better for us than just life as we knew it. He wanted the best for us, so He gave the best to us. He gave us His only begotten Son, so that we could experience Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life as Jesus lives is in, and through, and as us! The cross crossed out all of the old so that the new could come forth. The old man had to die (the second death) so that there could be a new birth. So that we could be born from above. But don't get it twisted--Jesus didn't come to make "evil" poeple "good." He came to make dead people alive. He came to translate us out of the power of darkness and into His Kingdom. And He did that by planting Himself--the King--in us! Because what is the Kingdom but the realm where the King rules and reigns. That's why we don't just live IN the Kingdom... but we ARE the Kingdom. WE are the realm where the King rules and reigns. We are kings and priests and He is the King of kings and the High Priest! I'm telling you, we weren't "bad" before the cross. We just didn't know who we were. Because we didn't know who God was. So Jesus came to show us the Father. To show us what it means to be loved, and to show us what it means to love others with that same love. He came to cross out all of the misconceptions about God. To show us that while we were God's enemies in our minds because of our wicked deeds... when God arises His enemies are scattered! When the day star arises in our hearts that old mindset--that guilty conscience--scatters. When we let the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us... that's when we stop worrying about all of the religious junk we've been taught. That's when we stop worrying about what the world is screaming at us. That's when we hear the still, small voice inside of us that leads and guides us into all truth. That's when we start to understand what--on a deep level--we already know. What we've always known but what we thought was too good to be true. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hand. That's the ultimate truth of the universe. Daddy loves you. Always has, always will. He didn't send His Son to die on the cross in order to change you into someone He could love. He already loved you. He sent His Son to die on the cross so that you could change into someone who could know, and believe, and receive, and relese His love. He had to cross out the lie so that you might know the truth. He had to shine the light of the world (which He is, which you are) so that you could see clearly. So that you could stop trying to earn what is freely given and can only be received. Either the cross changed everything, or it didn't change anything. Spoiler alert: It changed everything!