Reflections

Its so funny how so many times I will have a plan for my day and God will hijack it. It's sad how He has to remind me that He owns my time. Anyway, this particular day I was getting ready to sit down and check my quiet time off my to-do list for the day. Through a conversation with a godly woman, God then proceeded to turn my thoughts from my own self-righteousness to dwelling on the glory of the gospel.
There are many of us who still struggle with condemnation and guilt, even after being a Christian for many years. As I was musing through some thoughts about a book I had recently read, "The Holy Spirit" by Sinclair Ferguson, some lights began to turn on in my head. Follow these thoughts, if you dare, and see if your brain doesn't start spinning with the wonder of our Savior.
God's original intent for humanity was for us to love Him perfectly. Through the Fall, the image of God that indwelt every human being was marred and distorted. We wallowed in our sin instead of despising it and seeking to honor our Creator. When Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to dwell on the earth, He conquered sin and lived the perfect life that we were unable to live. His perfect life is not just a moral example for sinful people. It is the life that we have to live if we are to be pleasing to God. But we are sinful and unable to live this perfection out daily. So where does this leave us?
The Holy Spirit has come to unite us to Christ. What does this mean? It means that Christ's perfection, which He achieved on earth in His humanity through the power of the Holy Spirit, can be applied to us. Salvation isn't merely our slates being wiped clean. It is this and so much more. It is the knowledge that every trial we will come upon in life, every desire to sin and every failure, has already been conquered by the Son of God! We are united with this victory through the very same Holy Spirit who indwelt the Son of God! So how does this affect our outlook on sin and failure? It means that when we are tempted to self-condemnation, we have the freedom instead to look to Christ and His perfection and know that God accounts this perfection to us through the Holy Spirit! The children of God are indwelt with the very same Spirit of God who was with God the Father and the Son since eternity past. The same Spirit who dwelt within the very Son of God now dwells within believers.
We have freedom! Practically, this means that we have freedom from being bound to our sinful natures, and we have freedom to accept the perfection of Christ and have it applied to our lives. I am no longer bound to my sinful nature. I am free from being bound to anger, disobedience, and idolatry. These things are no longer my first nature! When I do sin, however, I have the freedom to look at the life of Christ and realize that He was the perfect Man I could never be. Through the Holy Spirit, this life is mine.
Prophesies throughout the Old Testament looked forward to a time when the Messiah would come and redeem His people. Not only this, but the prophets looked forward to a time when the Holy Spirit of God would be poured out on His people. The day of Pentecost was the inauguration of a new day in the life of the people of God. The Spirit of God was now available to every believer. This Spirit unites us with Christ in His perfection and frees us forever from being anything other than image bearers of God!
Needless to say, I am incredibly grateful that God turned my sinful thoughts to dwelling on Him and His glory. I pray that these words have done the same for you.

A Thanksgiving Poem

My filth is clearly before me
Eyes clouded with shame,
All I see
Is my inability
To love you perfectly
I am helpless to redeem myself
Sinking to the depths, I cry out with despair
The Accuser rushes in
With his darts of poison
He ravenously preys on my bleeding and bruised heart
Words of condemnation and the stain of sin disfigure who I was created to be
I am alone, condemned forever
There is no one to save me.

BUT
The Son of Man comes to seek and save the lost
And as I hide in my shame
He comes
To take it upon Himself
The perfect Man, the Son of God
Does not turn from my filth
But identifies Himself with my guilt
To save me from it
And as the nails pierce the hands
Of the beaten, bruised, battered, Sinless Savior,
And sinless blood drips down
With every drop the whisper sounds:

No more condemnation
No more guilt
No longer will you be satisfied with the squalor of sin
A new era is dawning for humanity
The reign of the Accuser is over
His hold on My people is broken
Humanity has a new heart
You are my redeemed people

"It is finished."