The last two weeks I've written about "Immanuel" (also spelled "Emmanuel" meaning "God with us") as the explanation of why and how Jesus, the Son of God, became flesh. Essentially, God became one with us so we could become one with God. --Well, at least, all the good people, right? So some believe we're good enough to have God smile on us, but those of us who still struggle with sin -- at least, what we understand to be sin -- continue to feel unworthy and left out.
Not so fast...in fact, not at all! "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" says Paul in 1 Tim. 1:15; and even Paul's own history as a strict Pharisee still didn't let him claim to be good. He continues, "and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners" (the rest of verse 15, and verse 16). Here we see two great truths: first, nobody is so bad that God doesn't show mercy through Jesus, because that's why Jesus came; and also, that there aren't any people who are good enough to claim God's favor by their own works.
Does that acceptance only apply to people who have repented of all those specific sins and then been baptized? Does God, after this enormous gift to us of his Son becoming flesh, living a perfect life, dying as a perfect sacrifice, and then being raised from the dead, throw the task of completing our salvation back on our incompetent shoulders? Paul continues in 1 Tim. 1 "others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life" -- but where does the belief come from? In verse 14, he exclaims "Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus." And let's understand, that is the perfect faith Jesus displayed during his earthly ministry, the complete trust that the Son has had in the Father from eternity, as part of their Triune relationship. Jesus has believed for you, obeyed for you, and died for you, as a complete gift, because neither you nor I can do any of it well enough for a perfect God.
The whole universe has been united with the Father through the Son: "For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross" (Col. 1:19-20). I looked up the word "everything" in the Greek. Guess what? It means "everything." So unless you're not in heaven or on earth, it means you, dear reader, are also "reconciled" or made at peace, with God. No matter what you've already done, or not done yet. Because of Jesus Christ, we are already fully accepted by the Father.
So if it's all been done by Jesus Christ, Immanu-El, and even our belief doesn't earn our place with God, what's the point in believing? Because that's how God becomes real to us, so we'll begin to participate in the relationship he established for us in Jesus. So, we Gospel preachers say, renounce your self-reliance, let go your efforts to clean yourself up, and simply let God love you.
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