During this Lenten season, we must remind ourselves that this season is about much more than doing things out of duty. We can fast, we can give and we can give up things for Lent. I want us to place that aside to look at ourselves for a moment. How is your relationship with God? Do you spend enough time with Him? Is there a sin in my life that God is speaking to me about, but I do other things not to think about this? Do I equate busyness with holiness?
How can I draw closer to Him? These are tough questions to think about, but they must be approached.
Sin is what separates us from God. God is holy and sin brings about the need for a Savior. In the Old Testament, they offered sacrifices to cover for sin, but it still didn’t hit the core of the problem, which is how the sin issue gets taken care of once and for all.
That is when Jesus steps into the scene. His love for us wants to see sin remedied once and for all. This love would require Him to go to the extreme and become one of us. Think of that again: the Creator of all things becoming the creation. So, He does that very thing and comes into the world as a baby, born to poor parents.
Jesus lives and grows up as one of us. He gets hungry, He gets thirsty, He needs sleep, and He develops and learns how to crawl and walk. He grows up as any child does. Then as we fast forward to the age of 30, He begins His ministry on earth with one goal: to die.
He preaches the Good News of the Gospel. It is bad news for some though because it requires action and change on their part. The Pharisees lived in ritual, sin, and hardness of heart instead of allowing God’s grace to make them into a new creation. Jesus calls the world to love God and one another as the greatest commandments ever given. Think and act today upon this love as you go about your daily life. Remember that one little act of love could change someone’s life forever!
Jesus enters Jerusalem for the last time to shouts of victory and praise. In the background, the Pharisees are looking for anything to snuff out His message. They make up something and use it effectively against Him. He is beaten and He is condemned to die and carries the tool of execution upon His shoulders.
After that long and exhausting journey, He shows His sacrificial example of love in laying down His life for us and the world. John 3:16, a Scripture we all know, tells us this.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NASB). He takes our garments, filled with sin, shame and guilt, and exchanges them with ones of love, purity and victory. He bows His head in death and the sacrifice for sin has been paid out of love for us.
It wasn’t the end though. One day, Mary goes to the tomb and finds that Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus uses death, the tool of the enemy, to overcome death. He appears to the disciples and eventually ascends to His home in heaven where He lives and reigns. He has overcome all those things that separate us from Him, and a relationship is now possible with God through Jesus and His sacrificial death.
We don’t hear much good in the news today, but this news is front-page worthy! Fear is not the reason nor should be used by any church to scare people into faith in Christ. We are not slaves to fear but rather children of God. It is the Good News because it is life-giving and life-transforming news. It is the news that changes the scene from bad to good. It gives us hope in a screwed-up world.
God doesn’t condemn you but instead, He loves you to the point that He gave every drop of Blood for you. This is why He took on flesh and dwelled among us. He didn’t want eternity without you! He made that possible through His death and resurrection. He wants a relationship with you, but you have to say yes. We each must make this decision and I pray you will follow Jesus and show His love to those who need to hear good news.
Join us on Good Friday, March 29th, at 7:30 PM at Alva Church of the Nazarene for a moving Tenebrae Service, reflecting on Jesus's sacrifice. Wishing you a blessed Holy Week and Easter Season!
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