Endings part 2
Something has to end for something new to begin. That, in the ultimate sense, is what happened 2,000 years ago on the cross. Look at Hebrews 10:9, "Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second." The first (Old) covenant had to end so that the second (New) covenant could be established. And even though we're using words like "first" and "second," "new" and "old," the simple truth of the matter is that God gave the Old Covenant to the people of Israel for the same reason He gave them a human king--because THEY wanted it. God deals with people where they're at. And before the cross--before the Holy Spirit began to dwell in us--the thing that made sense to a carnal mind was a set of rules. Do good and be rewarded. Do evil and be punished. That's what came from the tree of death (the tree of knowledge of good and evil). But that's not what God wanted. In fact, He set up a whole system of animal sacrifice--forshadowing the ultimate sacrifice of the Lamb of God--in order to keep us from being punished all the time. And yet we still got to the point where we couldn't see God as anything but an angry taskmaster who wanted to punish us. Look at 2 Peter 3:9 (NLT), "The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent." God doesn't want to get anyone in a negative sense. He's not out to get you. He's not sitting on a cloud somewhere, holding a lightning bolt and waiting for you to screw up. Because, in reality, God already got you on the cross. In a positive sense. When Jesus was lifted up from the earth He drew us all into Himself. When He died and was buried He was the seed that was planted in all of us. So that one thing could end and another could begin. Jesus nailed the Law of Moses--the Ten Commandments--to the cross because they were contrary to us. Against us. All the Law could do was point out what we did wrong. It demanded perfection without being able to produce perfection. And that was no good. Especially when, in God's eyes--the eyes of grace--we were already perfect. Made in His image. All we needed, from His point of view--was to be conformed into the image of His Son. So that we could know who we really are. Who we are in Christ, which is who Christ is in us. So that we could know ourselves as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased, and so that we could know Him as our loving heavenly Father. That's the shift that took place on the cross--from slave to Son. That's what ended... a life of trying to earn our bread from the sweat of our brows... and that's what began... being redeemed by Jesus sweating His blood into a cursed earth. Reversing the curse. Ending it. And bringing forth blessings. Bringing forth rest. Bringing forth a life of love. Because that's what Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life is... it is a life of love. We thought we had to earn it, because we thought we didn't deserve it. But that's over. That ended. Now we know that God IS love, and He loves us! That's the ultimate truth of the universe. Always has been true, always will be true, and has finally been brought to light!