Going for the Jugular

Sin. Committing bad behavior... making poor, unhealthy decisions... doing what we know somewhere deep inside is just wrong.  I have spent (or wasted) much of my life justifying my reasons why I was, in some way, allowed to do as I pleased or how inaccurate the rules were that I was correct in my rebellion... and the past few years, I simply didn't care if my choices were wrong, I felt hopeless and irrelevant in this life and therefore anything that made me feel better (even if only temporary) was better than the harshness of the reality in which I existed.

I was certain that I was too stained, tainted by the circumstances of my reality, to matter to God or be considered important (or worthy) enough for Him to love... let alone be redeemed.

God pursues His creation.

Let me be clear:  He does not place us here in a sick and twisted game of survival-of-the-fittest.  It is our human-ness that has caused us to fall down time and time again... God's desire is for each and every single one of us to know Him, to be prospered by Him, to live in Him.  We alone cannot defeat the condition of fallen man... we desperately need our Father in Heaven.  God does not take lightly to these matters.  He loves us SO much!  Seeing how we struggle - how we tend to totally miss Him even in our best 'human' efforts...  

...We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know? We tried it...  no human being can please God by self-improvement... (read full passage - Galatians 2:15-16 MSG)

Before I go any deeper, I promised when I first started writing this blog that you will come to know me and my life over time - and I want you to know that I speak from my heart and my experience, so let me share a little about me:  The idea of God, Jesus Christ, church, religion is not new to me.  I grew up in a home that went to church every Sunday, dressed in our 'Sunday best', to hear the Word of God and have fellowship with people we never spent any time knowing outside of those four walls.  I learned quickly not to question the bible or my elders - that was blasphemous.  I learned that my dad didn't need to attend church with us; that abuse of any kind is to not be discussed or disclosed; that peace can only be found inside the walls of the church and even that completely depends on the adherence to the rules of said church by the whole body (one person's disgrace could tarnish us all).

I was often "shushed" and grew into a personality that was not my destiny.  My family was broken, abuse was abundant, survival and self-preservation became my understanding of normal.  I was told I would never succeed, that I was a whore, and that I was responsible for the messes of my family.

In my adulthood, I had a child out of wedlock, have been divorced - twice, raped, victim to brutal random acts of violence.  I spent years high, drunk, or both... I participated in sexually dangerous behavior, entertained eating disorders, battled diseases, endured many suicide attempts.  I lost my motherhood and myself. I've been evicted and broke.  I've lied and been lied to.  I've heard God and walked away.  Not only had I been told I was useless, I proved it.

I was not in any way deserving of peace, love, mercy or grace.  None-the-less, God pursued me... relentlessly.  His heart was breaking for me.  He knew His purpose for me and because His Love is greater than we can humanly know, He came after me, He called me over and over... He demonstrated His love for me in such a drastic and violent way - it was bigger than any mess I could ever make. He was not afraid of my sin, He wanted to free me from the prison of my life - the chains of fear.

I've come to understand God's position on this issue of sin in a very real context.  We are not forever bound to sin.  So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus...For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace.  (Romans 6:11,14 HCSB) We have been redeemed. 

Here's where we get lost.  We have destroyed the meaning of words - our vocabulary has been raped by what is convenient for us as a population... and it continues to evolve to meet OUR selfish agenda.  So before I go any further - let's recapture some of our words.

Redeem - to buy back, to recover by payment or other satisfaction

Ransom - to redeem a person from captivity by paying a stipulated price; to deliver or redeem from captivity, bondage, or detention, or punishment for sin by paying a demanded price;

When the first man (Adam) fell, all of humanity became hostage of or captive to sin.  In other words, an agreement was made with satan, giving him power and authority.  By our own best efforts, we cannot save ourselves - pay the penalty for our sin - of which we are in bondage (imprisoned by).  We know that Christ was sent for us (we say this so casually and often without comprehension) and I feel that something we miss repeatedly is how passionate God is for us... that this wasn't a "swap one slavery for another" deal.

"God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that." (Romans 8:3 MSG)

He went for the JUGULAR!  This is a 'once and for all' act of God.  In His Son, Jesus, HE (God) personally took on the human condition (it bears repeating) ...struggling humanity, to set it right. We were ransomed through Jesus Christ! My heart absolutely aches when I read this and I am completely humbled.  He loves us SO much.  Even me, in the mess I was, in my brokenness (fractured human nature) He did what I could never have done.  He set my life right, He restored me to the divine condition in which he made me so that I could be alive in Him and fulfill His Purpose for me.

For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified.  (Romans 8:29-30 HCSB)

  

I personally feel a heartache, a frustration when I hear (a general buzzing in the world today) that we (as individuals or even as a community) are very busy, that it's hard to make time (or take the time) to BE with God - to know God OR that we are not redeemable.  I believed my whole life that I was not receivable, and I'm no one particularly special... I am as you are: precious in His sight.  He has made it possible for us to live in peace and love abundantly... He has been there with us through it all, cleaning up the mess - turning our worst into His best!

My heart aches for God's heart - the way we completely massacre His Divine Love for us.  He watches us in torment... and because He won't violate Himself, He waits for us... waits for us to reach our 'proverbial end'... saying to us "I'm right here... if only you'd look UP."

There is so much to discuss, but it comes to this: our Heavenly Father is calling each and every single one of us to a new place in Him.  Wherever you are in your relationship with Jesus Christ and His Father - this is not the end... it is designed not for us to repeat the past or re-live history, but we are being called to recognize the foundation that has been laid down before us, to stand firmly on His promise, and step into His Presence, receive His Love, hear His Voice, be transformed by His Grace.  For us, this is our beginning.  It has been done for us - all for His Glory and it is now our choice to embrace what He has so freely given in the life, death, and eternal life of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Hear His call, be glorified and victorious in Christ Jesus, elevate your relationship with the One who made you, recognize this new day, rejoice! and be glad, you are chosen, you are called, you are sons and daughters of God and the Kingdom of Heaven is here!