Dear Reader, When I was teaching a bible class in a Christian school some years ago, a question came up from one of the students, “Why did Jesus have to die?” In the moment I quickly, summarized the answer as: “So a way could be made for us to go to heaven when we die and be with Him and all those who went before us.” Thinking back now, I wish I could amend my answer. My prayer is that over time, those children came to understand there is much more to the Truth than my simple explanation. I thought I was answering correctly for their age. However, I believe I was mistaken and this is the subject of this blog post. If we think about it, the answer I used is taught all the time, in various ways. The problem is while true in some aspect, that it leaves out a very important aspect of what Jesus has done for us. In fact, that answer is more of a simple side note in comparison to the magnitude of the work accomplished in Christ. The entire truth is what sets people free. What I should have said is: Jesus was the Son of God and the Son of man. He had to be both. It was the plan from the foundation of the world because God knew what Adam and Eve would decide to do in the garden when the Deceiver offered a distorted interpretation of the truth, “Did God really say…” God the Father created humanity anyway. His creation was worth the sacrifice that would be needed to redeem them from the decisions they would make. It was, and is, evidence of His great, great Love for us that this Grace and forgiveness would be offered for us to receive. I should have said that the Old Covenant had a law and that law held people captive because the Deceiver had a hold on any who violated it. He could accuse them and he would be correct. Condemnation was the verdict, according to the law. And the deceiver had great pleasure in carrying out that sentence. He had access to heaven; he was the prosecutor of the people God Loved. But there was one thing that could break that hold, and that, according to the law, was a sinless sacrifice. The Law of Atonement in Leviticus 16 describes the sacrifice of a bull and the scapegoat. The goat would be chosen by lot, and the sins of Israel were placed upon it (symbolically speaking) and then sent out into the wilderness to die. Think now, for a moment, when did Jesus go into the wilderness? Jesus was baptized by John for repentance, yet Jesus lived a sinless life. Why? To identify with humanity. It is in Matthew 4 that Jesus goes into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. (In the believer’s baptism at conversion, we identify with Christ’s death and resurrection.) There are more correlations, but one of the most telling verse for me comes in Matthew and John: Matt 5:17-18 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. and John 15:25 “But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.' Jesus lived a sinless life. He was sacrificed having taken on all the sins of humanity thus the law was fulfilled, and the ACCUSERS VOICE WAS SILENCED. The Deceiver and Accuser of God’s people no longer had a hold on them. The keys of hell and death are no longer in Satan’s possession. Revelation 1:18 John says, “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Many will say that Jesus did not go to hell. 'There can be much discussion on this (and thankfully our perspectives, while important, are not the key to our salvation). Here is why I think Jesus did go to hell where Satan was and that He did suffer there. The requirement of the Law was spiritual death. Spiritual death is separation from God. A place of torment. Can you imagine a place without the goodness of God? Scripture says Jesus suffered our punishment for humanity's sin (my paraphrase). Could it then be said Jesus experienced a separation from God the Father? Isn't that what happens when people die in a sinful unrepentant state? I know…that is such an offensive idea for some. But let us not reject it just because it is contrary to what we have always accepted, let us truly know the Word of Truth so we will not be confused. And let us not mistake a stubborn loyalty to another’s interpretation over what the Word says in context. If, for the sake of discussion, Jesus did experience a type of separation from the Father, where would that happen? It wasn’t in the tomb, as some suppose, while he was “napping.” We are not separated from God while we nap. We can still experience His goodness. So, when did Jesus experience that separation? On the cross, physically, yes. He did say “I commit my spirit..." Luke 23:46 says this and He is quoting Psalm 31:5 . But I wonder, do you think the law would have been satisfied if the suffering were only on the cross? The Law also indicated punishment included separation, like with the scapegoat which had been required. What did the law require regarding sin and what would it take for sin, and Satan's hold on humanity because of sin, to be dealt with once and for all? Just asking… Jesus was condemned by those who ruled according to the Law. And when punishment came upon Jesus (Gal 3:13), Satan participated in the fulfillment of the law through the willing human participants to the cross and then afterward when Jesus, in his humanity, experienced, for the first time, separation from the Father. Jesus remembered and trusted the Father and knew He would not be abandoned to Sheol (Ps 16:10). And He was right. God the Father did not abandon Him. When the time was right, He sent the Spirit to quicken Jesus and win the victory. for humanity over sin. The law said atonement was needed for sin and the atonement had to be sinless. Jesus who had lived a sinless life, willingly (John 10:15-18)laid it down for humanity. His death, resurrection and ascension, wiped out not only our sin but also the law used of Satan that used it to accuse. Let me say/write that again, what the Son of God did as the Son of man closed any access Satan had before the throne of God to accuse God’s people. Atonement was made, the law fulfilled and set aside. No more condemnation for those who believe and receive it. (Romans 8). (Also, consider Romans 10-11 with all this in mind.) The sad thing is that people don’t realize what Jesus did. Because of this lack of knowledge, they are susceptible to the only weapon Satan now possesses against the people of God. Deception. Many do think He came to make a way for us to go to heaven and they would not be wrong, but there is so much more. Salvation is for now. Living in victory is for now. Forgiveness and Grace is for living now. Think for a moment: What would it be like to live a day when NOTHING negative of the past limiting our obedience to Christ? Consider all bad decisions, trespasses against us having no cringing memories haunting thoughts/evaluations of ourselves, or others. What if it didn’t matter what other thought or said? Not because we didn’t care, but because their opinion/evaluation didn’t change what God said about us or the identity we have as a part of His family, His Church, His kingdom? Imagine a clean slate, freely forgiven and ties cut from preconceptions, misconceptions, searching for significance, looking for validation— What if we didn’t have to be “right” all the time to feel justified? What if a mistake was just a mistake, forgivable, redeemable? What if all of it was simply, gone, forgiven, without impact or influence? What would you feel free to do? Where would you go? What would you say? Who would you help? Who would you forgive? Sounds like heaven, right? It is. It is eternal life and In Him we have that now. The exciting truth is according to Christ and the work He did… We have all of that and more NOW. We have a voice before the Throne of Grace. We have the Word of Truth that divides falsehood from truth, that heals, forgives and changes our dysfunctional thinking, turns our mourning into dancing, replaces ashes with beauty… We have the Holy Spirit to help us when we need it: our counselor, our friend, our teacher. We have the Faith of God within and the ability to choose to believe. We have the ability to choose to forgive, choose love, choose joy, choose goodness, etc… Hebrews 4: 12-16 “Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest [salvation provided], so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” When we remain bound by the small thinking of “I’m just a sinner saved by grace” we make small the work Christ did for us. When we believe our only goal is simply to get to heaven, we abdicate our responsibility as members of the Church Jesus is building and the mandate of that Ecclesia (governing body of the Kingdom with an assignment) now. When we say, Jesus will come and make things right or take His people out of the mess they created, we imply that somehow plan A of God did not work because of humanity, making humanity more powerful than God’s plan. This implication is that Jesus did not do the complete work and now Plan B must be put into place. And finally, when we will not allow dialogue about matters of faith, we show a lack of confidence in what we know and the reliance upon what others know. I experienced this in my own journey out of denominational thinking. I studied the Scriptures but remained strictly within the bounds of the denominational doctrine that I had adopted as my own. Thus, my loyalty was not so much with the Word of God as I had thought. My loyalty was in what people had told me about the Word of God according to the “founding fathers of that particular denomination.” This was a hard lesson to take at times. Pridefully, I did not want to think I had been mistaken for so many years and in turn all my efforts to be a “good follower of Christ” were somehow misguided and maybe useless. That would be 22 years of spinning my wheels and getting nowhere for Christ no matter how sincere I was! Ouch. What about the classes I taught! I needed to repent, and I did, but it was a difficult decision. But God! Not only was realizing all this a difficult thing, but also to remove the lenses and see the scriptures without them was frustrating. I kept slipping back into the cliches I’d learned. It took a community of believers and dialogue and study together from different perspectives to finally see what was happening. All of this to say, the stewardship of the Gospel of Christ is important. It leads to the unity of the Church Christ prayed regarding in John 17. But we have to be willing to listen, discuss and come to a consensus. See also Eph 4 Dear Reader, there is so much more regarding the Kingdom and the Church that to go into now would make this an even longer blog. But I’ll leave this for another time or for you to study. My goal is to point out the freedom and victory you as a believer possess now because of Christ. I encourage discussion and study for all of us. We all need someone to whom we are accountable. And The Holy Spirit is good at His job. He faithfully reveals the truth to those willing to see. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, Even Aaron’s beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon Coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing—life forever. Psalm 133 Grace and Peace Anne

“I feel as bright as a flower garden!” This phrase is included in a book I am currently working on. It has to do with an unexpected gift of colorful clothing. The idea came from an account regarding my grandfather's visit to a neighbor. The story began something like this: "One day "Pat" (my Grandfather) came to the door in to bring some vegetables from the garden." The neighbor went on to relate how embarrassed she was to open the door because she had just gotten out of the shower and had to hurriedly put on whatever clothes were handy before answering the door. The clothes did not match and she did not really pay attention until she was nearly to the door. In fact the colors wildly clashed, and she still had a towel (also colorful) around her wet hair. Today, we would probably just not answer the door, but this was a small town and people did not do that when it was someone they knew. She went on to tell how embarrassed and silly she felt but she decided to open the door anyway expecting my grandfather to make a depreciating comment about how silly she looked (because that was how she felt). She was pleasantly surprised by what my grandfather said, “Why, you look as purty as a garden full of flowers!” That was how I remember my grandparents teasing. They allowed the one being teased to participate without losing face. As far as I can remember, no one left feeling “less than,” but rather “a part of” when jokes were told. Some are so quick to criticize and joke in ways that put others down. Why highlight and tear apart the flaws in the name of humor or“truth in love” or simply to feel superior? Have you noticed the world has become quick to see what is not right. We do want injustice exposed, yes. But not just exposed! As believers, our desire is for justice and to be right with God, to stand for Truth because it is good for us, not just good to us. We were made to be the representatives of Christ upon the earth, so it is difficult to stand silent when injustice is happening. But a balance is needed. To complain and only report what the devil is up to and neglect the report of what God is doing and what He has said in His Word about similar matters in the past, works counter to our desire for righteousness. Likewise, concentrating on the flaws, condemning and highlighting the areas of weakness in others or even ourselves, denies the value of who God says we are and all He has placed within us to accomplish His good purposes. The option is always before us when we hear reports that are negative or discern what is unjust. We must wisely, with the help of the Holy Spirit, know how to respond to these moments. In small and large matters, we can choose to support life or death, literally and figuratively. That power is in our tongue, what we say aloud and think in our hearts. It is in our conversation: blessing or curses, grace or gossip. The power is in our prayers, the Scriptures we remember and those we call on in prayer. God says He watches over His Word to perform it. What Word are we speaking, praying, believing? When my Grandfather's neighbor opened the door to him in her crazy outfit, in that moment, he chose to support life. How? His joking comment cut off erased any opportunity for embarrassment to take hold. The joking comment about the flower garden, found a positive place to land in her heart that did not wound. He made light of the moment, canceling any need for shame, and brought laughter to a memory. Any other response could have caused that woman to cringe for the rest of the day. Instead, she remembered the moment at his memorial service with gratitude and laughter, remembering his kindness. Be a blessing, choose life. Listen to those who recognize the opportunity to apply Truth to negativity. Grace and Peace, Anne Jeremiah 1:12 “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it.” Romans 8: 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death , but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, Proverbs 18:21: Death and life are in the power of the tongue : and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. see also

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