In His Name part 3
Whatsoever we ask for in His (Jesus's) name, our heavenly Father will give us. That's what Jesus said. But the thing I keep thinking about is that He has already given it to us. Jesus spoke of asking in His name BEFORE the cross. And ON the cross, THROUGH the cross, BECAUSE OF the cross... we have been given everything we could ever need. So we don't need to ask for anything anymore. Because we don't need anything anymore. What we ought to be doing at this point is ACTING in His name--or his authority, character, and nature. Look at Luke 24:47, "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." That's Jesus speaking. The red letters. That's a ministry mandate. Preaching repentance and remission of sins. And not the NEED for remission of sins either. The TRUTH of remission of sins. The truth that our sins HAVE BEEN remitted. Look, if you understand the power of the cross, and you understand what it means to be a sinner saved by grace, then you understand that you're not a sinner anymore. "Whoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9). Sin is unbelief, so by defintion a believer cannot sin. A believer cannot unbelieve. Telling people to get right or get left is not what ministry is supposed to be about. Telling people that the Lamb of God came, took away the sin of the world, and brought us into the Kingdom of God (the Kingdom of heaven, the Kingdom of love) is what ministry is all about. That's how you get people to repent (or change their minds); not by telling them to repent or else, but by giving them something better than what they think they've got. Showing them a more excellent way. Who would see a more excellent way and turn it down? Nobody in their right mind, right? So instead of telling people how bad things are (and how bad they are), we need to tell people how good things REALLY are. Reveal the Kingdom to them. Jesus told Peter that his faith was the key to the Kingdom, right? We can unlock people's chains. We can set people free. We can invite them into the glorious Kingdom of God! Not by telling them they're not good enough, but by telling them that GOD IS good enough. When we couldn't... He did. He died for us when we were yet sinners... so that we wouldn't have to be sinners anymore. He gave His life for us, yes. But He also gave His life TO us. So that we might experience it and enjoy it. So that we might be able to live His eternal, everlasting, abundant, Resurrection Life of love as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us! That's what it's all about: Letting God love the hell out of us and then loving Him back by loving the hell out of each other. That's how we truly live, because to live is to love and to love is to live. We preach the gospel--the good news that God is love and He loves you--in His name. And, if we absolutely have to, we can even use our words. Our lives are God's love letter to this planet. His love letter to us. If we're going to act in His name, we're going to love people. Period. That's as simple as I can make it.