Not an Option

I awoke in the middle of the night with a starkly realistic dream about someone from many years ago in my life. My nerves were knotted up in anger, and I realized this was someone I haven't yet forgiven for real or perceived offenses. It's time for me to go

The Opposite Of...FHL

Faith, hope and love are three of the major themes of the Bible. Most of us assume that we start out our life with God bringing a little bit of each, and that after struggling through life, doing our best to grow in these, we are supposed to have FAITH, HOPE and LOVE in huge capital letters like the Hollywood sign. Here's the problem: it

Confession and Grace

We don't like accepting our weaknesses and sins (those we can admit, theoretically, that we might have). And we hope nobody else can see any, so we show up in public with our Public Face on. But God already knows what's wrong with each human, and he gives each one total forgiveness in Christ. And James 5:16 tells the church community, as we work together, "Confess

"It Is Finished!"

The sky was dark and brooding, as if responding to the horror happening below.  Three men had been hanging on their crosses for hours now, but in typical Roman cruelty, they could be there for days, twisting in agony, begging for mercy and gradually slipping away into death.  The middle of the three, Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee, had been beaten so badly by a Roman scourge that he had not even a palm-sized patch of skin without lacerations and bruises over his entire body.  He was sinking fast.  "I am thirsty" he rasped, and a soldier dipped a sponge in sour wine and held it to Jesus' lips. 

Jesus' thirst was physical, because he was fully human and was thirsty from the loss of blood and lack of water; but it was also a reference by Jesus to Psalms 42:1-2 and 63:1, where the writer has a spiritual thirst for God comparable to being physically parched.  Various commentators point out the irony of the Source of Living Water (John 4:14, 7:38-39) being thirsty in death.  The soldier's response was an unwitting fulfillment of the betrayal listed in Psalm 69:21, "they offer me sour wine for my thirst."  

"It is finished" was Jesus' final cry recorded in John 19:30.  The Greek verb "tetelestai" he used is in the form that means a completed action creating an ongoing state of being.  It's a similar word to "finished" and "fulfilled" in verse 28.  Here, Jesus didn't say "I am finished" to refer to his own condition, but "it is finished" an emphatic, triumphant statement of victory!  The grand plan of God becoming man -- to be one of us and to fully experience our humanity, then in one bold stroke to absorb all our sin, guilt and shame so there will never be any more barrier between God and us -- that plan had now been accomplished with complete success.  There was, and is, nothing left to do to rescue us and reunite us to our Father.  You are now reconciled to God through Jesus his Son (2 Cor. 5:18-19).  It's a done deal. 

Luke records Jesus saying "Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands" in 23:46.  It was time now, and okay now, for Jesus to breathe one last breath and die.  Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, fully God and fully human, died.  If he hadn't been human, he couldn't have died for you; if he hadn't been God, he couldn't have died for you.   
 
But the story is not over...

Atonement, Forgiveness and Rest

The book of Leviticus is one that most people avoid reading. It's seen as either boring, confusing, or way too gory -- all those sacrifices and the details of incense and which day of what month meant something.

But chapter 16 is interesting. The priest is told to go through an elaborate cleansing and sacrificial ritual before he can enter the holy place. A bull is slaughtered, and then a goat. Another goat is held while the sins of all the people are 'confessed' over it, then it is sent far away into the wilderness, never to return to the camp. At the end of the chapter, we're told that this is to make atonement (the Hebrew refers to 'covering') for the sins of all the people, once a year.

Lots of very cool parallels to our Savior, and to our salvation here. The high priest had to offer sacrifices for his own sins, so he would be seen as sinless before he could offer a sacrifice for the people. That's a picture, in advance, of Jesus being a sinless 'high priest' for us (see Hebrews 9 and Hebrews 10 for a detailed interpretation). Then the 'azazel' goat -- the 'goat of removal' is a good way of translating it -- carries the sins of the people away. In two different ways, sins are wiped out forever; once by blood sacrifice, again by removing them from the area. Those things are gone, forever, with no chance of return (see Psa. 103:12, "as far as the east is from the west"). Both operations are done by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

One more point is interesting: the people are told to fast from food and water for that day, and commanded not to work. And this one isn't a 'pilgrimage festival' -- the nation stayed at home for the day, not assembling at the central worship place.

What were the meanings of these things? Fasting is a symbol of repentance, which is turning to God and accepting his forgiveness through Jesus. What about not working, and not traveling? Simple: Jesus has done the work. We can add nothing to Jesus' work for our salvation, any more than the people could add to the work of the high priest in Israel.

In fact, we can do nothing to create, earn or qualify for our salvation. That has been a fact since the foundation of the world. Accepting salvation from God by faith isn't a work either; it's faith alone (Eph. 2:8). Salvation is from Jesus, not from our work, our rituals, our energy and enthusiasm, or our obedience. Jesus plus anything is the wrong formula for salvation. "Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone" was the cry of the Reformers 500 years ago. They were right -- and Leviticus 16 shows it.

Your sins are gone, never to return. You don't have to carry that guilt around any longer. Great news, isn't it?