Wednesday 14 October 2009

The Absolute Profundity of the Blood,Cross and Resurrection of Christ Part 1

I could spin this out, but that would be artificial. If you get time read these three great posts from Daniel Yordy. As you reach part 3 you will see that he emerged intact...just about...from community life. This was my experience. May our generation build Christ communities on a better foundation! But anyone who knows me can understand why I relate to Daniel's experiences.
Enjoy.
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The Absolute Profundity of the Blood, Cross, and Resurrection of Christ: Part 1From: Daniel Yordy www.dyordy.com
'Absolute' means "free from imperfection; having no restriction, exception, or qualification."
'Profundity' means "the state of extending far, all-encompassing."
Christian theology and the human mind have found every possible way to limit and reduce the meaning and impact of the blood, the cross, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, each in their own spheres.
Central to the work God is doing in changing our minds, in opening our eyes so that we might see all things as they really are, is our heart-mind faith embracing of how absolute the blood, death, and resurrection of Jesus really is, both in our own lives and in all creation.
The days of the limitation of God are over.

The Blood
The blood is for sin. Sin is an offense that causes an imbalance of justice or a debt from the one sinning to the one being sinned against. All sin is an offense against God, but much sin is also an offense against one or more members of His creation. All sin is a willful act on the part of the one sinning that takes away the 'property' right of the one sinned against. All sin must be paid back.
Let me illustrate from the ten commandments. All offense is actually theft. If I worship other gods, I take from God what belongs to Him. If I murder, I take away life that belongs to someone else. If I commit adultery, I take what belongs to another man or woman; I also steal from the child who could be born. If I lie, I take away truth and integrity that rightfully belongs to someone else. And if I covet, I want to steal, even if I can't.
God is absolutely just. Everything ever stolen (all sin) must be paid back. The law requires paying back double.
Evil is darkness. Evil produces nothing of itself; all evil is theft. Whatever evil possesses, it has stolen. All evil is an offense against the light of God and is also an offense against some part of His creation. If the evil is not harming one's neighbor, yet, it brings harm to the sinner, who is of God's creation and therefore is theft against even one's own self.
Satan has robbed himself more than he has robbed anyone except God.
To most Christians, the blood of Christ allows God to forgive those who believe in Jesus so that they can go to heaven even though they are still sinners. Some go a little further and use the blood as a weapon to fight against demons.
Let God enlarge your understanding of the blood of Christ until there is no shadow of limitation.
The blood shed by Christ answers all claims against all evil.
Take every offense ever committed from the fall of Lucifer until Jesus restores all things to the Father, every offense committed against God, against others, and against self, add them all together, and you have a fairly great weight of offense.
Yet the value of one drop of Jesus' blood is greater than the value of all things ever stolen put together.
Yes, there is coming a time when all things will be restored. God requires justice. Yet all restoration of all things rests completely inside of the absolute finality of the blood. It is already paid for. And inside of it already being paid for, now the individual who stole can freely restore that which was stolen.
I believe that for those who overcome in this age, all restoration takes place inside of our faith, our embracing of the absoluteness of the blood of Christ. At the same time, I suspect that those who do not embrace the full meaning of the blood of Christ will be required to bring restitution to those they have wronged. Some will spend an entire age doing so. Yet, if that is a correct understanding of the age to come, all restitution brought will be possible only because it is already restored fully and without question by the blood of Jesus.
This speaks of the extent of the blood, but there is another picture that shows us it's depth.
Jesus was the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. God is eternal. The blood and sacrifice of Christ was not 'added' to God's nature and being after some historical incident. Christ as He walked this earth was simply revealing in time and space what was already eternally true.
Yet, even though the blood has always been, it had no effect in the history of man until red human corpuscles dripped into the dirt at the foot of a piece of wood stuck into the ground.
As I sit here writing this, pondering this picture, my heart and mind scream against all limitation of the extent and meaning of those red blood cells mixing with the dirt of the earth.
My God, my God. Salvation is complete, right here, right now. To relegate any element of salvation to some future day is an open insult to the power and completeness of that blood in the dirt. Today is the day of salvation.
The blood was not shed in heaven, it was shed in the earth. The blood was not shed in some future age, it was shed in the present age of human folly. The blood did not mix with the 'gold' of heaven's 'streets,' it mixed with the dust and the dirt of this planet.
Do not ever weep over sin.
That doesn't mean we are not sorrowful if we cause hurt to someone else. It doesn't mean that we don't ask forgiveness and do what is needful to make it right.
It means that we walk in the light, without any consciousness of sin, because we walk at all times with the full extent of the blood of Christ mixing with every part of our human earth.
It is finished.
And it is finished for all creation as well.
Many Christians like to get all worked up about other people's sin. It makes them feel good, I guess. Some of my students like to rail against homosexuals. "God says it's wrong," they cry. "And have you lied?" I ask, "Because lying is a worse offense against God than any sexual sin." I point out that Jesus said nothing against those who were accused of sexual sin except "Neither do I condemn you." But those who got an emotional thrill out of accusing others, Jesus was adamantly against.
Religious accusation that exalts self while condemning another is the one thing that Jesus fought against with all the ferocity of His being. "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone."
Satan is cast out of the heavens as all accusation is cast out of our hearts and minds.
"Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen . . ." Romans 8:33-34
The blood of Christ has already paid all claims against all offense. When you magnify sin, you diminish the blood. When you magnify the blood, sin vanishes from view.
We must see all things both within ourselves and in our experience with others and in all creation through the blood of Christ, always.
The blood of Christ has more value than we can possibly ever know.
You have been purchased with that blood; you are more valuable than you can possibly ever know.
If you had in your hands the largest shaped diamond ever in history, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, knowing fully its value, you would be mightily moved inside and you would treat that piece of earth with more care than you have ever treated anything in your life.
To see all things through the blood of Jesus is to see all things created by God, each individual person, as having more value than all earth's diamonds put together could ever possibly have.
The Blood of Jesus.
Remove all shadow of limitation from your heart and mind.
Believe in Jesus.
(To be continued in Part 2, The Cross and The Resurrection.)

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