God went for the jugular

May 27, 2010
Romans 8:1-4 (Msg) "With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.
God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.
The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn't deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us."

Paul tells us that the Law was good, in that it showed us what right and wrong are, but it was powerless in that it couldn't keep us from doing wrong. So there was a "fateful dilemma"; God wanted relationship with us, but He couldn't because we were condemned by our sin. So God took on the problem. I like this version of these verses; "God went for the jugular..." The imagery there is incredible. God saw the human condition, and loved us so much that personally took on the human condition in order to set things right. By taking on our sin and dying in our place, we no longer face condemnation. That relationship is restored. "The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death."

This dichotomy between the Law and Grace gets confusing. Sometimes Grace doesn't feel right. We think we still need to earn relationship through the law. But it doesn't work. The Law may keep us from sinning for a while, or we may "look" like we are doing good. But we are not truly reconciled to God. "The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it." Many Christians are trying to earn grace and salvation by following a set of rules: don't watch that movie, give to World Vision, throw out your TV, mow your neighbors lawn. And these things may be good (Christ did not come to abolish the Law), but they don't change the condition of our hearts. Like Paul said, we tend to redouble our own efforts. "This time I'm not going to ..., next week I'm going to three church services." I ask myself - "how's that working out for you?" The honest answer is - it's not. No matter what we do, no matter how we act; on our own we can not be counted righteous. We need to "Simply embrace what the Spirit s doing in us." Is it easy? No. Is it worth it? Absolutely. I am so thankful that through Christ, I no longer stand as one condemned. Through the Spirit, I can live freely and be in relationship with God.

Father, thank you for coming to this Earth, entering the disordered mess off struggling humanity, and saving me. Help me to embrace your Spirit in my life. I love you Jesus,
Amen