Out and In part 2
Jesus didn't bring us out of bondage just to leave us there. Look at Romans 5:18 in the Message Bible, "Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life!" Did you catch that? He didn't just get us OUT of trouble. He got us IN to life! And not just any life... HIS life! Abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life! And when Jesus was explaining what that life is all about He said this, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). The life that Jesus got us INTO is a relationship between Father and Son. Living in the context of Sonship. Knowing God as our heavenly Father and knowing ourselves (and each other) as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. But let's track this for a minute: If all He had done on the cross was get us out of trouble with sin and death... that would be enough. More than enough. Because no matter how hard we tried--when we were trying at all--we couldn't get ourselves out of trouble. We couldn't do anything with the mess we'd made except make it even bigger. A seed can only produce after it's own kind, right? Apple seeds can only make apples. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, and all we could produce was more sin and death. It took Jesus drawing us into Himself, and dying both for us and as us, to break the cycle. To get us out of all that trouble we had gotten ourselves into. But He didn't stop there. He didn't just die. He was buried, and then He rose again. He gave us something better than what we'd had. Not just life. HIS life. He didn't just hit reset and hope we would do better this time. He swore that He would never leave us nor forsake us. And then, to make sure WE knew that He was always with us... He took up abode WITHIN us! Revelation 21:3 (MSG) reads, "I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God."" God moved into the neighborhood. He didn't just give us His life and tell us, "Good luck. Don't screw it up." He gave us His life by living it in us, and through us, and as us! He gave us Himself. His relationship of love. The Father/Son relationship that had always been ours, but that we had always believed was too good to be true. We tried to earn something that can't be earned. Because the GIFT of God is eternal life. It was freely given 2,000 years ago on the cross. And it can only be received. That's called walking in newness of life. Walking by faith and not by sight. Knowing and believing the truth, so that the truth can set you free and make you free! We were in trouble with sin and death. Dead in our trespasses and sins. But Jesus got us OUT of trouble... and IN to His life!