It's All About the Cross
I've been in a class at our church called Savoring Scripture.
The foundation of the course is the book called Savoring Scripture: A 6 Step Guide to Studying the Bible by Andrew Abernethy (highly recommend, btw).
A lot of what we have covered is in relation to the storyline of the Bible as a whole.
And here's where I'm at with it...
If all of the Old Testament stories and prophesies all correlate with and point to the life of Jesus, and all of the New Testament tells of God in human form (Jesus) and what it means to live a life for/with Him, then all of our faith must always stem back to the reason for Jesus's coming- His death and resurrection on the cross.
I mean literally, all of it!
This was God's rescue plan from the beginning (Genesis 3:15).
So many of the laws God gave the Israelites for following Him were based on sacrifice. But He knew one day His son would be the ultimate sacrifice. And the sacrifice was based solely on love- not because of any good we had done.
Someone in our class asked why God didn't send His son sooner? Why wait? I think it's possible one could say that if God had sent Jesus sooner, maybe it would be because we deserved it. But clearly, after the years of the Old Testament, humanity did not deserve a savior (try reading Judges, phew).
Sacrifice. Love. Grace.
Here's what great about the book, too. It encourages you to not simply learn the facts about the Word, but also to understand them in light of how we live in nearer relationship with God because of what we understand about His story.
And so I found myself in the car the other day listening to this album and thinking about the cross, and I was overcome with emotion around how incredibly profound Jesus's act of death and resurrection truly is. I was sobbing and laughing all at once.
Do you need forgiveness? Jesus paid for that on the cross. Not matter what the sin is.
Do you need help? His Holy Spirit now lives inside His people because of His sacrifice in our place and He promises to be our helper.
Do you need hope? Christ's redemption for our sins secures us a future in Heaven with Him!
Do you need freedom? Jesus showed His ultimate authority over the enemy by defeating death, hell and the grave all at once.
Do you need love? He already loves you with immense, incomparable, unconditional, sacrificial love. Enough that He willingly gave up His life for the joy set before Him so that you could be rescued. And that love will never change.
I'm convinced that every pillar of our Christian faith and every need that we have in this life will somehow point back to that powerful, sacrificial act of love on the cross.
Go there for your grounding when you need it. And ask Him to help you see and understand Him through the cross, more and more.
I'm currently nerding out about both this book and this song:
Beloved by Francis Chan. I'm only on chapter 4 and it's SO GOOD. I already want everyone I know to read this book.
It's all about living a life of abiding in the love of God. So good.
Nothing But the Blood by Tommee Profit and Jeremy Rosado
"Oh, precious is the flowThat washes white as snowNo other fount I knowOnly the blood of JesusAnd, oh, through Him, I'll overcomeBy this, I'll reach my homeNo other fount I knowNothing but the blood of Jesus (blood of Jesus)"
Peace, friends.
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