March

“HAVING BEGUN IN THE SPIRIT”

“Not by MIGHT, nor by power, but
by My Spirit, says the Lord!” (Zec 4:6)

Part 3

          Today’s news is focused on the film, The Passion of the Christ”. Regardless of how many attend this movie, its central theme remains a stark reality for all creation! Since the first Adam, no flesh nature of man has been sin-guiltless; and no other way of escape from sin’s enslavement has been provided but THE INNOCENT BLOOD-SACRIFICE OF CHRIST! If not for His Cross, no living soul would be reconciled to God! Eventually the Passion of Christ will break every heart so its love imprisoned can flow outward instead of being held captive as the servant of “self” alone! But Christ’s Crucifixion is only the beginning! For while all men are “justified by Christ ‘s Blood, much more than that, through Him, we shall be saved from wrath!” (Ro 5: 9) Verse 10 continues,

“While we were yet *enemies of God,
He RECONCILED us to Himself
by the DEATH OF HIS SON; but
so much more than being reconciled,
we shall be SAVED BY HIS LIFE!”

*Let us better understand how we came to be God’s “enemies” in need of being
both “reconciled” and “saved”. Col 1:19-22 says, “It pleased the Father that
the fulness of all things should dwell in Christ; so through Him He made peace
by the Blood of His Cross! Yes, by Him He reconciled ALL things to Himself,
whether they be of earth or of heaven! This includes you who were at one time
alienated from God as ENEMIES IN YOUR MIND by wicked works! But now,
He has reconciled you to Himself by putting on a Body of flesh and, with His
own death, present you in His sight as holy, unblamable, and unreproveable,”
Ro 8:6-8 adds, “To be carnally (fleshly) minded is death; and to be spiritually
minded is Life and Peace! The carnal mind is God’s enemy since it is not, nor
can it be, subject to God’s Law; so no carnally minded ones can please God!”
Jas 4:4 also adds, “You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you realize that the
friendship with this world is hatred against God? Therefore whosoever is the
friend of this world is the enemy of God!”

         Repeatedly Scripture says the death of Christ was only meant to “reconcile and justify” all things- even all men- from their bondage as flesh-minded enemies of God! But it clearly says we are then“saved” by the L-I-F-E OF CHRIST! Had Jesus Christ only “died” on that cross, the world would have only been “reconciled and justified” to God! He had to be RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD to secure the SALVATION OF THE WORLD!!

I challenge anyone who sees the movie, “The Passion of the Christ”,
to tell God that the price His Son paid in that unthinkable ordeal was
an INSUFFICIENT RANSOM to free a world held hostage by sin!

          No matter who may dispute the strict accuracy of this film on a Scriptural basis, there can be no doubt of the brutal reality of Christ’s suffering outrageous indignity, scourging and crucifixion! From the least to the worst graphic image a heart may conceive of this despicable event, the truth is: CHRIST DIED TO TAKE AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD! How dare any devilish, carnal mind claim that even one sin can remain to be taken away! By whom could it be removed? If God incarnate is unable to reconcile and justify this world from sin by His own Blood-cleansing, what greater Sacrifice could possibly be offered? Doesn’t the unveiling of Jesus Christ in the last Book of the Bible say clearly that “He loved us and washed us from our sins in His Own Blood?”
          (Rev 1:5) As we read earlier, God’s carnal minded enemies are unable to be subject to God’s Law, since“Natural man can’t receive the things of God; as they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Co 2:14)
          No flesh man could have ever saved himself from slavery to sin, and none greater than the Most High God could have paid the Price for his release! But this is only equitable when it was He “Who subjected all creation to vanity- NOT WILLINGLY- but in hope; that creation, itself, will be DELIVERED FROM THE BONDAGE OF CORRUPTION INTO THE GLORIOUS LIBERTY OF BEING THE CHILDREN OF GOD!” (Ro 8:20) But much more than being reconciled and justified by Christ’s Death, all men are then SAVED BY CHRIST’S RESURRECTION LIFE!! This is accomplished when His Holy Spirit reveals Himself within the secret chamber of our hearts!
          No movie depicting Christ, no testimony of Godly men, no religious tradition, no self-effort, no force of human power, not even Christ’s own “death” was designed by God to save our souls from sin-slavery! Only CHRIST’S L-I-F-E was instituted by God as the Savior of the world; and that is only when He reveals Himself by whispering, “I am here and I love you” within each heart!!
          1 Cor 15:22-23 says, “As ALL DIE in Adam, so ALL WILL BE MADE ALIVE IN CHRIST; but each man in his own order...!” And the process by which the “resurrection of the dead” is done is this: “It is sown in corruption; raised in incorruption: sown in dishonour; raised in glory: sown in weakness; raised in power: that is, sown a natural body; raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; and the last Adam was made a (self-)quickening spirit. But the spiritual man did not come first, rather the natural man came first then afterward the spiritual man!” (1 Cor 15:42-46)
          God’s Promise to all men is this,“As we are buried with Christ by baptism into His death: we will also walk in His newness of Life, just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father! For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also planted in the likeness of His Resurrection: We know our old man is crucified with Him to destroy our body of sin so that we should no longer serve sin- since he that is dead is freed from sin! So if we are dead with Christ, we believe WE SHALL ALSO LIVE WITH HIM!” (Ro 6:4-5)

[TO BE CONTINUED]