The Perfect Sacrifice

Today is "Maundy Thursday" and as we approach Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, we see how HisStory displays His unending love and His unfathomable holiness.  Mankind was full of evil.  Adam and Eve chose to sin and in turn, separate themselves from the relationship God desired.  God is a Holy God.  He can't look upon evil in His holiness, and consequently we are separated from His Presence.  And so, the battle began for the redemption of mankind back to God.

When God first involved man in His plan for redemption, He called Abraham to be the father of a great nation.  In His time and miraculous way, God provided a long-awaited son for Abraham.  One day, He went to Abraham and instructed him to take his only son, Isaac, and offer him as an offering, a sacrifice.  Abraham obeyed, and as he prepared to sacrifice Isaac, God provided a sacrifice in his place.  He commended Abraham saying, "Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him.  For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me." (Genesis 22:12)  In response to God's provision of a ram, Abraham worshiped God and named the place "Jehovah-Jireh", The Lord Will Provide. 

As we look ahead, we see the nation that God had promised to Abraham.  God had provided for them in Egypt and built them into a great nation.  But in response to this, Pharaoh became jealous of and intimidated by their blessing and enslaved them, even ordering their sons to be killed at birth.  But again, God was at work.  He provided a son once again, this time to Jochebed, a Hebrew.  Moses grew to become a man (Exodus 2:11-21). During this time, God again provided.  He heard the groaning of His people.  He knew that there was nothing they could do to be freed from their oppression.  He called Moses to deliver His people from captivity.  If you've seen "The Ten Commandments," you know what happened… (If not, go check it out…!)  And at the end, as God prepared to free His people, the time came for the consequence of the sins that had been committed.  In order to avoid this judgement, God's people had to prepare a sacrifice.  As they prepared, they were to take the blood from the "perfect" animal sacrificed and spread it over the doorposts of their home.  Only by this blood, from their sacrifice, would they be saved.  And just as God had promised, He delivered.  They were freed from slavery in Egypt and delivered (eventually) to the land He had promised them many years before.

Now we fast forward…To another time in the life of His people.  Once again, they were enslaved.  This time, their slavery was more to themselves than to others.  They had become enslaved to the follies of the world, to money, to power, to fame, to greed.  They had turned the place of worship into a den of robbers.  They lived by the law and neglected the grace.  They put power and prestige above a giving, compassionate spirit.  And once again, God was at work.  He again provided a son.  His Only Son.  He grew "in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man." (Luke 2:52)  And then the time came once again. The time for a sacrifice.  The sacrifice for His Only Son.  The Lamb.  The Perfect sacrifice.  Only by His blood would they be saved.  And so it was…  He was crucified on Friday, for a debt He did not owe.  We were delivered - from a debt we could not pay.  Once again, Jehovah-Jireh, our Provider, showed Himself.  

And then history was changed.  Forever.  After a long, terrible Friday at the cross, a broken, hopeless Saturday at their loss, came Resurrection Sunday!  Since the beginning of time, mankind has had to pay the penalty for sin.  The price for sin is death.  and death means the end.  "But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!" (Romans 5:8)  Finally, we were given the sacrifice that ended all sacrifices. By the only One who could pay the debt we owed.  From the only One who has never sinned.  The only One who could conquer sin and death in one fatal blow.  And then, as He proclaimed…"It is finished…!"

What a gift.  What a story.  Where HisStory invites us to freedom as we surrender completely to Him.  His life in exchange for our own.  Will we give our life for Him?

Freedom...

Seems like a far cry from where we feel like we're headed, doesn't it?  Less choice, more rules, less pay, more cost…. But it is in the middle of this mess that we call life that I am discovering my own place.

We live in a world where we want more bang for our buck, we'll make it your way, no credit check, all you can eat, buy one get one…, in only 8 weeks you can have…, and the list goes on.  However, I have discovered that in the middle of all the convenience comes a mad & crazy dash for nothing…. What do we really have to show for all of it?  Is there anything that will make a lasting impact?

On the other end of the spectrum, we see the name it and claim it mindset.  If you believe it, it will happen.  If you are doing the right things, good things will come to you.  Or perhaps the worst…God will never give you more than you can handle.  I think we have been fooled on that one…!

As I continue to learn about the many facets of God, I am reminded by a friend of a passage: "God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

Sounds all good, but here's the kicker…we're talking about temptation…not about life… Sometimes, God will allow us to face mountains that are higher than we can climb, or seas that are roaring out of control (remember His disciples?) or even circumstances that seem to take everything we have left (remember Jesus in Gethsemane?).  Does that mean that He doesn't care?  Or that He isn't strong enough? Or doesn't love us enough? Or that we have really messed up this time?

I'll be honest…I have asked myself those questions many times.  I have spent hours trying to figure out where I went wrong, what I missed, what I misunderstood.  Sometimes, to be honest, it is me… I am very opinionated, very determined and very stubborn.  These can be good when used in the right way.  But when dealing with God, these can cause much heartache, growing pains, sometimes temper tantrums, and always a final surrender to what the Father knows is best.  Other times, it isn't any of that.  It is simply that God knows the big plan.  He knows where I am headed.  He knows what I will face.  He knows what others need.  And He knows what He desires to complete in me and in others.

Probably the most difficult, but most rewarding, lesson I have learned in this life so far is that God cares about me too much to worry about hurting my feelings by correcting me or showing me how helpless I am without Him.  Sometimes, in all the convenience, processed, and at-our-fingertips luxuries that we have become accustomed to - even those who don't have as much - we have forgotten that we need each other, and more importantly, we need Him.

Without Him to correct me, guide me, discipline me and even sometimes allow me to suffer, I have missed (or forgotten) the fact that He has a desire to have a real relationship with me and for me to know Him.  When I think of the relationship He wants with me, I think a lot of my relationship with my own dad.  It seemed that we could communicate without ever saying a word.  We could almost seem to read each other's thoughts.  We knew our love for one another, even when nothing was said.  We thought alike, we laughed at the same things.  We had the same sense of humor.  We had a heart for many of the same things.  There was a connection that couldn't be broken by time or space.  I have to believe that God desires that same relationship with me.  While I wanted to talk to my dad, and still miss it, it was more than just a talk.  It was more than a checklist.  It was more than just an appearance.  It was something that was real.  Nitty-gritty some times.  Raw sometimes.  But it was open, honest and real.

God doesn't want me to say or do what I think He wants.  He already knows what my true intentions are.  He wants me to be real; He already knows where I'm weak, stubborn, struggling.  He knows me better than I know myself.  Sometimes, I think He simply wants for me to know myself as He does. And yet, He has a plan for me.  I am often comforted by Peter, who had a knack for sticking his foot in his mouth, becoming a powerful, passionate follower of the Christ.  He knows that I am in over my head.  I often think He does that intentionally…so that I can know Him more, so that I will involve Him in my life, and so that I will seek Him above everything else.

And that is where the freedom comes in.  The more boxed in I feel in my job or surroundings or just life in general, the more I have to begin looking up and looking out.  Where will God show Himself?  When will He show me another facet of His glory?  When will I remember, once again, that it is only through Christ that I can do anything of real meaning?  When will I accept that life can be hard, for no reason I can understand, but that it is a part of what He desires for me to become more like him.  More like the refined silver.  When will I realize that being weak, or even broken, flawed, helpless, or overwhelmed is sometimes, often times, right where He wants me.  It is then that I have no other choice but to reach up…

To cry out…

To listen for the still small voice…