To Save part 5
Seeking and saving. Somehow we seem to have gotten the idea that these are things WE are supposed to do. When Jesus said it Himself in Luke 19:10, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Now look at Titus 3:5-6 in the Amplified, because it's pretty much all I want to say today, and it's exactly how I want to end this Rant series. "He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but because of His own pity and mercy, by [the] cleansing [bath] of the new birth (regeneration) and renewing of the Holy Spirit, Which He poured out [so] richly upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior." He sought us out and He saved us. Not because of anything we had done, or could do. Basically it had nothing to do with our actions, and everything to do with our identity. HIS identity. Father and Son. A Son who was lost and didn't know who He was. Remember in the story of the Prodigal Son? A Son who was dead but is now alive. The new birth. The regeneration. The renewing. What--mostly--Revelation 21:5 is talking about when Jesus declared, "...Behold, I make all things new..." The new things that He made... were me and you! A new creature. A new man. When Jesus was on the cross the thief (who I believe represents Adam) asked Jesus to remember Him. Not just to not forget him, but to re-member him. Put him back together. And that's what Jesus did when He poured out His Spirit on all flesh. He put us back together... in Him. He saved us from the "Adam-life" by drawing us into Himself and planting Himself in us. By dying in order to bring forth a great harvest. Again, the new birth. Born from above. If a seed can only produce it's own kind--if an apple seed can only make apples--then the Adam seed (the corruptible seed) could only make Adams. So even though we were created in the image and likeness of God, we were trapped in the realm of the senses. What we could see with our natural eyes. We were trapped in the bondage of sin and death. And we needed to be saved. Not from some fiery afterlife if we don't do enough good--or say the right "magic words"--before we die... not my might, or by power, but by His Spirit He saved us from "life as we knew it." And He gave us HIS life. Abundant life. Eternal life. Everlasting life. Resurrection Life! He didn't just give His life for us, He gave His life TO us. We died when He died, and that's how He separated us from sin and death. And we rose again when He rose again. That's how He filled us to overflowing with the Holy Spirit. The love receptor. See, the cross didn't change us into something God could love. He already loved us. God didn't make all new things. He made all things new. He equipped and empowered us to RECEIVE His love. To know and believe that He loved us. He defeated the lie by giving us something--someONE, Himself, love--to believe in. He sought us out when we were stumbling around in the dark. And He shined His light. Helping us to see that WE are the light of the world. His light shines in us. His love fills us to overflowing and gets all over everybody we come into contact with. Seeking and saving was Jesus' mission. And He accomplished what He set out to do. He saved us. Cleansed us. Regenerated and renewed us. He did it all so we could get it all. And now we have it all because we have His Spirit. The Spirit of love that allows us to love others as He loves us!