For the last few days, my morning drive to work has slowly become more colorful. With every new touch of color that I see, I smile and feel such a warmth in my Spirit as I think about the new life that spring brings. Even as I sit here right now (thinking about the pretty purple flowers that began to bloom in my own yard yesterday afternoon), my heart is full of what spring means to me and I pray that the Holy Spirit help me put it into words that will grow your heart as well.
Maybe the best place to start is winter....think about what happens in winter....the old leaves, the old blooms - they die. The leaves fall to the ground and then we have to pick them up and get rid of them - our goal is to take these leaves away where we never have to worry about them again. Did you know that is exactly what Jesus did to our sins?
Jesus bore our sin in His body on the cross. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God." Jesus had no sin. His flesh and His Spirit remained pure. But, God still designed it that Jesus would be beaten and crucified on the cross for our sins. Because of Jesus (and when we identify with Him), we become righteous in the eyes of God. Oh, how God has loved us all along - to put such a perfect plan in place!
When we are sinners (not born again/haven’t received
salvation), we identify with Adam. We
see ourselves as flesh (which is corruptible seed). We identify with sin and sickness BUT after
we are born again and receive Jesus, we identify with Jesus. Romans
8:10 says "
When we are born AGAIN, we are born of Jesus. Our first birth is a natural one – we are
born of the flesh (the likeness of Adam was reproduced). Our second birth is a spiritual one – we are
born of the Spirit (the likeness and power of Jesus was reproduced). When you are baptized, you go under the water
as FLESH, you come out of the water as SPIRIT.
Your identity changes.
John 3:1-7 says, "Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, 'Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.' Jesus answered and said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?' Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
With Jesus IN us, we see ourselves as Spirit – no longer
ruled by the flesh. When we receive Jesus, the flesh dies…it loses its power –
the power of the Spirit of Jesus inside of us takes over. We no longer have to worry about dying (our
flesh perishing) because we don’t even identify with that part anymore – we
identify with our Spirit – which is eternal.
And…because we identify with the Spirit of Jesus, we know that we are
WHOLE. Jesus isn’t sick – He isn’t carrying around feelings of guilt – dread,
fear. Jesus is ALIVE, He’s WHOLE, He’s
at peace, and He has authority over all fear through His Power. When we
identify with the Spirit of Jesus, we KNOW we have all these things as well and
this is where our confidence comes from.
So....let's get back to those trees and dead leaves. Remember, that after the leaves die and fall to the ground, our goal is to get rid of them. We don't want those DEAD leaves cluttering our lawns and gutters. Just like the leaves, Jesus got rid of our sins. During the three days between Jesus' death on the cross and His resurrection, Jesus was in a place that we will never have to go - the lower parts of the Earth. What did Jesus accomplish there? He took our sins far, far away and left them in the darkness - never to be returned to us. Ephesians 4:8-10 says, "When He (Jesus) ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men. Now, this expression, He ASCENDED what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the Earth?" These scriptures teach us that Jesus freed those men of God from the Old Testament (Abraham, Noah, Jacob and many more). These men had righteousness "on credit" and after Jesus' death on the cross, He freed them from the lower parts of the Earth (those were the captives referenced in these scriptures) AND Jesus left our sins there - in the lower parts of earth - as far as the east is from the west.
So...when you have those days, when the enemy wants to remind you of the sins of your past. Please think about those leaves of fall that you raked up and threw away. That's exactly what Jesus did for your sins (if you have faith in what He accomplished). He took your sins away - FOREVER and does not want you to be reminded of them anymore. Thank you, Jesus!
Now...back to those seasons.... :)
Just like it takes some time for the dead of winter to change to the life of spring - it also takes some time for us to bloom and produce evidence of Jesus in us. After we are born again, we begin to put the Word of God in us, to ask Jesus to baptize us with the Holy Spirit, to pray in the Holy Spirit, to spend time with Jesus daily and as a result, our blooms (our characteristics of Jesus become evident) and in a beautiful way.
As we "bloom" in Jesus, it’s so very important to build our confidence by
understanding WHO we are IN God…we are not Adam…we are Jesus. We are not flesh, we are SPIRIT. We are not
sick, we are WHOLE. We are not guilty, we are FORGIVEN. We are not slaves, we
are SONS/DAUGHTERS. All because of…..Jesus!
NOW, when I see the colors of spring - all the different types of blooms and new life around me....I begin to think about all the fruits of Jesus' Spirit that I now identify with.
The leaves of.... guilt, sickness, fear, sinner, slave, anger, bondage, selfish, doubt, powerless, perish ...have died....and now the beautiful, fragrant, colorful blooms of spring....forgiveness, whole, peace, righteous, daughter/son, patience, love, freedom, selfLESS, powerFUL, confidence, eternal....are my new identity.
So, as I often do, I challenge you....during this beautiful season that I know that God designed for such reasons as He has shown me, I challenge you to see Jesus in the new life of Spring. I challenge you to identify with Him. And....here's a hard one (especially for my generation), instead of talking to your kids about the Easter bunny and egg hunts....tell them about the new life that spring represents. Read God's Word about the new life they have when they accept Jesus as their savior. Tell them how Jesus took their place on that cross and how He took their sins away forever - permanently. Easter is NOT about bunnies, eggs, and candy - but it's about the hope that we have in our only way to God the Father - through His precious Son, Jesus. Oh, thank you, Jesus, for my new life. I identify with you!
Part II of another celebration (and glory to God) that spring always brings for our family coming soon! :) Stay tuned...
No comments:
Post a Comment