Sunday, October 14, 2012

Full Acceptance In Yeshua


How often have we felt unworthy of Yeshua?  That old sin rears its ugly head.  We say something vile.  We hurt those we love.  We aren't "model" Christians (whatever that means).  We aren't living holy lives.  Sometimes we're ashamed to come before His Throne.  So we avoid praying.  We avoid spending time with Him.

We say things to ourselves, such as, "I'm not worthy.  I'm not deserving."  Surely there are others in the Body of Christ who are "better" than we.  But brethren, this is simply NOT true.  This is a LIE from the enemy.


Do you believe, as a blood-bought Christian, that you belong to Christ?  Do you believe His blood has washed you of your sins?  Any Christian would say, "Yes!  Absolutely!"  However, we say things to ourselves that convince us we don't believe it.  We know the Gospel of Grace has nothing to do with works (Ephesians 2:8).  Therefore, it is not our works that make us holy.  According to 2 Corinthians 5:21, we have been given CHRIST'S righteousness.

And He took all our sins to His grave.

A life for a life.  It was not Christ's life that was crucified on that day so long ago...  it was YOUR LIFEGalatians 2:20 says we have been crucified with Christ and it is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us.  Colossians 3:3 says our lives are hidden with Christ in God.  Christ's life was given to you when He took your life upon His cross. 

This means our ENTIRE life's sin-record has been expunged!  Christ paid the penalty for sin in our stead.  So why, brethren, do we continue to "resurrect" our old man and beat ourselves over the head with the corpse of our sins?  THEY NO LONGER EXIST!

Do we continue to sin?  Yes, we do.  However, since our punishment was met in Christ's sacrifice, we are free from the power of sin to condemn us to death.  It no longer sends us to the grave, because it sent CHRIST to the grave.  But hallelujah, He rose from the dead!  He proved He has Absolute Power over sin and death upon His resurrection.  The resurrection is the guarantee of our inheritance, because where the Head goes, the Body follows.  That is why believers call those who have passed away merely "asleep".  They are asleep in Christ, because one day, they will awaken at that blessed Trumpet Sound! (1 Corinthians 15:52)

 
So, what makes us worthy?  Not our works.  The Bible is quite clear on that.  What, then, makes us worthy, brethren? 

The righteousness of Christ

Amen?

Think about this for a moment.  Is there ever a time when Christ ISN'T worthy?  Is there ever a time when the Father looks upon the Son and doesn't absolutely Love Him?  He willingly took our sin and died our death so that we could live in Him.  But even upon the cross, God loved the Son.  The Father turned His face away because in that moment, YOUR life was upon Yeshua's shoulders.  Therefore, the answer to the question is NO.  There has NEVER been a time when God the Father looked upon the Son and didn't consider Him worthy.

Because while Christ was suffering your fate, YOU were given His righteousness.  And that makes YOU worthy, because CHRIST is Worthy.

I have touched upon this subject before on this blog, that when God looks at you, He sees Christ.  And this is true.  But stop for a moment and let the full force of this reality sink in.

Christ is the Second Member of the Godhead.  We are accepted into the family of God through His sacrifice.  We have been given His righteousness, and He has forever done away with our sins.  Now God loves each one of His children as PERFECTLY and COMPLETELY as He loves His Son.  We are loved by God the Father as if we were members of the Godhead ourselves.

We shall never be gods, however, we will share in the Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:4) by ruling and reigning with Christ as kings and priests (1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6) at His right hand (Revelation 3:21).  We have become One with Him through His atonement, like a husband and wife become one flesh (Ephesians 5:31-32).  This is how we are co-heirs with Him (Romans 8:17).



Perhaps there was a time, before we were born again, when we were not worthy.  But after we believed, we were made worthy by Yeshua's finished work on the cross.  He presents to HIMSELF a Bride without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27).  Our worth is found in His Worth.  And Yeshua is Worthy FOREVER.  No longer can we say we're "not worthy".  No longer can we claim we are "undeserving".  If we have the Spirit of Christ living within our bodies as His temple (1 Corinthians 6:19), then we are worthy because HE is Worthy.

We, quite literally, have been given the very Worth of God Almighty.

So let us not entertain such self-debasing thoughts.  Let us not speak so poorly of ourselves.  This is not humility!  These are LIES from the enemy!  Our worth is found in Christ.  And if we are not worthy, then HE is not Worthy. 

And that, brethren, is simply NOT POSSIBLE.



~~Becka

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