In any event, I have been on a journey to grow deeper in my relationship with Christ. Let me tell you, when you desire in your heart to transcend the normal day-to-day, check-in and check-out relationship with God, He will show up and turn your whole world upside down! In a good way of course! :-) I'm not saying this pretending to be some sort of spiritual guru or some holier-than-thou person but just saying that it is true what the word says, in the Psalms: "But I am close to God, and that is good." Psalm 73:28 and James 4:8 "Come near to God, and God will come near to you." When we open our hearts and lay ourselves, our true selves out before God, He will reveal His truths in a great and impactful way.
For me, God opened my eyes to a very important truth (it actually coincided with a course at my Church). The lyrics of "Stronger" always touch my heart, especially this part, "So let your name be lifted higher, be lifted higher, be lifted higher!" It reminds me that His name has to be lifted above every experience, condition, and circumstance because He is stronger indeed! But, I always rush through the rest of the song especially these words, "sin is broken." In my head I really just want to get to the "let your name be lifted higher" part and that's just part of what I have to sing to get there, haha. BUT GOD! Yesterday those words "sin is broken" resonated so deeply within me. I realized that my understanding of the gospel was incomplete in light of that very sentence.
My understanding of "The Good News" was that Jesus died, freed us from sin, rose again, and if we believe in him, there will be eternal life in heaven. While we are here on earth we get to talk to him and guide other people to him. Last week I came to understand that this eternal life is for heaven but God wants us to have abundant life now, He cares about how we live today! I know that's probably Christianity 101 for some people but that blew my mind.
My other misconception of the gospel which relates to the song I mentioned earlier is that sin is broken, not damaged, dented, cracked, bruised, BUT absolutely broken, irreparable. Merriam-Webster defines broken as "violently separated into parts, disrupted by change, cut off, not complete or full." As I was singing, this truth resonated with me in a new way. My old way of doing things, my living separated from God, not being attuned to his desires, satisfying my flesh is gone, violently separated, it is no more. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, because of God's decision to reconcile us through His son, that sin (that missing the mark, that living in my own strength) was forever severed and I no longer live according to that nature. Colossians 3:9-10 says it this way:
"...You have left your old sinful life and the things you did before.
You have begun to live the new life, in which you are being made new and are
becoming like the One who made you. This new life brings you the true
knowledge of God."
... and Colossians 1:22 says:
"But now God has made you his friends again. He did this through Christ's
death in the body so that he might bring you into God's presence as people
who are holy, with no wrong, and with nothing of
which God can judge you guilty." (emphasis added)
There is no longer any wrong in my life, sin is broken, it does not control me. Of course I still sin, all of us in Christ do, but I'm not ruled by that sin. When I take my life in my hands because I feel that God is moving too slow or is not really there to help me, when I turn away from God and lean on my own understanding, desires, worldview, in short, when I sin, I am only reverting back to a memory of the old way I used to live, not who I am. I am a person freed from sin, sin has been violently separated from life. Each day I must choose to live according to God and remember that I am ruled not by the world, my flesh or myself but by God. He has broken the old me and calls me daily to embrace the new me. I am no longer subject to sin, it has no power over me because it is broken. Something that's broken has no power, no effect, it is useless and so is sin, my past, and my human habits, they are of no use to me, they are broken. The only fullness there is to know is the fullness of God as revealed through His son Jesus Christ.
What a freeing thought, sin is broken no longer has a hold on me. What freedom to remember that when I need to act or react I should rely not on the broken sinful self but the fullness of God and his Word.
