Expression part 3
It's kind of a two part deal: Before the cross Jesus came and expressed the Father TO us. And then through the cross--and now, after the cross--Jesus expresses the Father THROUGH us! Hebrews 1:3 says it like this, "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." And this is such an important verse because it explains the finished work and it explains how we are able to express God. He purged our sins. He showed us what God looks like--Jesus, God in the flesh, love in a body--and then He filled us with God. He filled us with love. But before He could fill us with love He had to empty us of everything else. The Old had to pass away before the New could come forth. When we express something it is simply what's inside coming out. And that's what the cross did. It showed us what was (and is) really inside. The Holy Spirit--our love receptor--is not what makes God love us. God always has and always will love us. The Holy Spirit--our love receptor--is what equips and empowers us to know and believe that He loves us! Being filled with the Holy Spirit is what equips and empowers us to express that love. To receive and release it! The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. The Spirit that leads and guides us into all truth. The truth that Daddy loves us. The truth that Jesus IS. The truth that we are NOT sinners. We are God's expression of Himself in this dimension. Jesus was the brightness of His glory--the light of the world that shined into the darkness and made the darkness flee--and the express image of His person. If you want to know what God looks like you have to look at Jesus. And if you want to know what Jesus looks like you have to look in the mirror! But you have to look in the mirror with an unveiled face. You can't look through the veil of the Law, because the Law does nothing but condemn you. It does nothing but point out everything you do wrong. And in this New Covenant it's not about good and evil. It's about life. It's about Jesus living His own abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life in and through and as you! In Him we live and move and have our being. Not some of the time... all of the time. Not when we're doing good and not doing evil... but with every breath we take and with every move we make. Jesus is upholding ALL THINGS by the power of His Word. And His Word is love. Here and now, in the Messianic rebirth of the world, everything that's not love has passed away and ALL THINGS are made new. All things--all of creation--are the expression of the Creator. And it's grace that allows us to see things the way they really are. Grace that allows to understand that our sins have been purged, and taken away, and forgiven, and forgotten about. Grace that lets us see that only love remains. It's all about love because love is all there is!