The Cross, The Resurrection, The Church

God could have chosen any way to forgive humanity, but He linked forgiveness with blood because blood is costly. He could have asked us to chop down a tree to be forgiven, but He didn't. He chose blood because He likes that imagery. He is a God of story and wants to change our hearts through that story.

He chose blood to be the price of sin. This is all throughout the Old and New Testament. The blood sacrifice brought about forgiveness. Forgiveness is the point of sacrifice. Jesus' death on the cross is the point of forgiveness for all mankind because Jesus was the perfect, sinless sacrifice. He was the end to sacrifice. All sacrifices up to that point were not perfect; His sacrifice was. Our sin is covered through that sacrifice when we have faith and surrender our lives to God.

Now, if we turn around and continue to live in sin, that forgiveness is meaningless. The sacrifice still has meaning, and the forgiveness is there to be taken. Nothing can take diminish the value of that sacrifice. It is priceless and cannot be purchased. But if we do not surrender our lives, then it cannot be attained by us. The price is death. His death. And our death to ourselves.

However, there is grace in that sacrifice, for we do not have to be perfect. We still sin, and the sacrifice covers our sin.

The sacrifice covers the sin of all in the kingdom. It is as if when we walk into the gate of the kingdom of God, the blood of Jesus is poured on us, washing all our sins away. We are then pronounced perfect despite not being completely sanctified. We are God's people now, clothed in His blood.

Sounds kind of morbid. But it's just an illustration. Blood is costly.

The resurrection, the Church, and the Holy Spirit all play a part in us being the citizens in that kingdom. For in the outland we were dead and dying. But the resurrection shows us that in the Kingdom we have life. In the outland, we were living for ourselves. In the Kingdom, we have the Holy Spirit in us, guiding us. In the outland, we were not a people, but in the Kingdom we are the Church. His people. His hands and feet. His life.

Let's learn to live surrendered lives together in the glory of His Kingdom.

Ice Cream Grace

In Tony Campolo’s recent book, Stories That Feed Your Soul, he shared a story about when he was asked to present to a university class “how Christianity could be a movement that would foster positive and radical social change.” 

Campolo passionately told the students how Christianity could solve the world’s problems. The students were enthralled. They wanted that world that following Jesus could bring. But then the professor, who had invited Tony, interrupted him and shouted, “Tony! Tony! Be sure to tell them the cost! Tell them what it will cost them if they become the kind of Christians that Jesus expects them to be. Explain to them the sacrifices that they will have to make if they are to be true followers of Jesus.” In explaining the cost, Campolo lost the crowd. They wanted all of the benefits, but none of the cost.

So what is the cost to follow Jesus?

We have a tendency to confuse undeserved forgiveness with free forgiveness. We must realize that none of us can ever do enough good works to deserve forgiveness for any of the wrongs we have done, are doing, and will do in the future. None us can abstain from enough sins to cover up any of the times we have missed, are missing, and will continue to miss opportunities to love the people around us. Since we cannot pay the price, we do not deserve forgiveness. That is why it is a gift. But being a gift does not mean that it is given without cost.

I have fantasized about telling my kids that the ice cream truck was the boogey man truck. This way they would hide and cower behind the bushes, terrified of the music and the truck rather than ask me to buy them ice cream at the truck’s siren call. But I digress.

The other day, we were sitting outside at the lake with my aunt and uncle. The hypnotic music of the ice cream truck could be heard coming closer and closer. My aunt, upon hearing the noise, wanted to buy my kids ice cream, so she did. My kids were happy. My aunt was happy. Everyone was happy. And my kids became messy enjoying their ice cream. We wrongly visualize an image similar to this, where God is like my aunt and we are like my children, when we attempt to understand receiving God’s grace. God wants to give us grace, but there is a cost. It isn’t just us running happily to an ice cream truck.

Jesus taught, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” [Matthew 16:24-26 (ESV].

This is death imagery. It would be like Jesus saying, “Deny yourself, climb into your electric chair, and follow me.” The cross was a disgraceful, humiliating execution device.

The cost to follow Jesus is everything. It’s not going through a confirmation class. It’s not raising a hand in response to a commitment call. It’s not going to the altar. It’s not being baptized. It’s not saying a specific prayer. It’s not most of the things we confuse it with. The cost to follow Jesus is everything. It’s not attending Sunday morning gatherings, taking the Lord’s Supper, giving in the offering plate, or some other religious ritual. It’s everything.

It’s the giving of your whole life, everything from your time at work to your time in the neighborhood. From your time with family to your time entertaining yourself. God’s grace, given to us through Jesus’ death on the cross, is not a cheap grace, it’s an undeserved grace. It’s an expensive grace, freely given.

When young people are asked what they think of Christians, the first thought that comes to mind is that Christians are judgmental. Something is drastically wrong when followers of Jesus are known for a trait that was not modeled in the One they claim to follow. Christians suffer an image problem in our culture.  This is an inevitable result of watering down Christianity from a teaching of costly grace to one of free benefits. When our churches are filled with people who want the benefits of following Jesus without the cost of following Jesus, we will exhibit a Jesus who is selfish rather than serving.

There are great benefits to being a Christian, both on a personal and on a societal level. However, these benefits cannot be received until we give ourselves completely to Jesus. We must stop living for ourselves and start living for others. In doing so, we will find the grace that God provides through Jesus. The benefits we receive might not look like the benefits we wanted when we were living selfishly, but they will be the benefits we and the people around us need. May we find the strength to climb into our electric chair and follow Jesus.