Made for More

     Hello again! I write to you today bundled up in grey and black, thriving in the cold but shivering too. I like the cold, I think I shall always prefer it to heat, but it gets into my bones and I honestly was not expecting it this early. Last year seemed to stay hot for so long and took much more time to change, suiting 2020. This year has passed so much faster. Can you believe it's already November? We're almost to the end of this year and I'm looking forward to leaving it behind. Things still haven't settled since last March and I am over it. I'm excited for the rest of autumn and the beginning of winter but more than that, I'm ready for a new year. We all could use a reset, I think. 

    I've been touching on this for a couple weeks now but I want to go deeper into the subject of being a new creation. We talk about salvation like it's glittering and magical and while it is the greatest thing we could ever receive, I don't think we could fathom just how radical it is. Paul describes it as a form of dying. Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3 that unless we are born again, we cannot enter the kingdom of God. Life must start from scratch. I didn't understand the gravity of that growing up and when I made the decision for myself. All I knew was that evidence for God was all around and there was no reason not to commit to following someone who promised purpose, love, and forgiveness. I'm grateful for my upbringing but sometimes I worry I'm too familiar with the weight of the gospel. Jesus literally died so that I could live. Me, with all my mistakes, all my shame, all the dirt on my hands. He took on the burden of not just my sin but of everyone who has ever lived and ever will. I can't comprehend that and I don't want to be so familiar to it that I lose sight of just how significant that was. 

    Sin, simply put, is falling short. We've all made mistakes, no matter how big or small, and we all need Jesus. This world is so broken and the best remedy for that is Jesus. I feel like that sounds so cliché and I'm cringing at it a little, I wish I knew how to phrase it better. Sin often seems like a word the church and Christians toss around lightly but it's something that has brought separation, condemnation, and judgement. Because of sin, we have death and suffering. Our actions caused the death of God's own Son. He gives us so much grace for all that we've done and we don't understand how utterly preposterous that it. But, we have to accept it. "No one who believes in Him has to fear condemnation, yet condemnation is already the reality for everyone who refuses to believe because they reject the name of the only Son of God. Why does God allow for judgement and condemnation? Because the Light, sent from God, pierced through the world's darkness to expose ill motives, hatred, gossip, greed, violence, and the like. Still, some people preferred the darkness over the light because their actions were dark. Some of humankind hated the light. They scampered hurriedly back into the darkness where vices thrive and wickedness flourishes. Those who abandon deceit and embrace what it true, they will enter into the light where it will be clear that all their deeds come from God (John 3:18-21)." Even as a Christian, even having a relationship with my Creator, I stray so easily. Sin is fast and convenient. Darkness feels safe. Jesus came to rescue people that don't seem to want to be rescued. He knows us so intimately and He came anyways.

    Before Jesus' death, we were separate from God. On top of that, all sin had to be covered by a blood sacrifice. For everything you did, there had to be a death to pay for it. That's why Jesus had to die. His blood was the only thing that could cover our sins once and for all and He gave it to people that honestly don't deserve it. "But think about this: while we were wasting our lives in sin, God revealed His powerful love to us in a tangible display-the Anointed One died for us. As a result, the blood of Jesus has made us right with God now, and certainly we will be rescued by Him from God's wrath in the future (Romans 5:8-9)." We could never begin to deserve it the bestowed on us. We deserved death, we had broken God's law but He wants relationship with us. He didn't create us just to die. Adam's sin in Genesis 3 allowed brought death into the world but Jesus death set us free from it. That's what God wants for us, grace and freedom. He wants to give us new life, the live we were supposed to have. 

    Once you believe in Jesus, your new life begins. You're born again, washed clean, your old life is dead and gone. Where do you go from there? Paul explains this very well in Colossians 3. "Since you have been raised to life with the Anointed One, the Liberating King, set your mind on heaven above. The Anointed is there, seated at God's right hand. Stay focused on what's above, not on earthly things." He says the same in chapter 2. "Now that you have welcomed the Anointed on, Jesus the Lord, into your lives, continue to journey with Him and allow Him to shape your lives. Let your roots grow down deeply in Him, and let Him build you up on a firm foundation. Be strong in faith..." I say it all the time too and I know it's hard to live but God has to be first, otherwise we're going to run back to sin and end up exactly where we started. Paul tells us to die to our earthly impulses and the allure of sin. Salvation requires us to practice the character and actions of the One who saved us. We must separate ourselves from the attitudes and actions of who we were before we were made new in Jesus. In place of that, we must live new. Our ways should those of Jesus; to love, to be compassionate, forgiving, gentle, humble, and patient with one another (Colossians 3:12-14). 

    We've been given a fresh start. Let's take it. It isn't easy but it's worth it. God is worth pursuing, He's never stopped pursuing us. Let Him be your foundation, your first and your last. Strive to be like Jesus instead of striving towards sin. So much mercy and opportunity has been bestowed on us; we don't have to live in old ways that only hurt us and the people around us. We're set free from sin so we might as well live like that. It may seem impossible but that's what grace is for, that's why we have the Holy Spirit and Jesus inside of us. No matter what we do, there is forgiveness but we still have to change our ways. We were made for more than that. 

Yours Truly,

Rey