All That Remains

Last week I was chatting with an old friend who I haven’t seen in quite a while.  The way the light from the window was hitting my face, she noticed a scar on my forehead and asked me about it.  The scar is a remnant from a car accident that honestly, I shouldn’t have walked away from.  My flesh shouted, “Change your hair, and buy some new makeup that will cover it up!”  I felt the Holy Spirit say to me, “Do no such thing. . .”  You see that scar is a part of my history; it is an imprint in my flesh of a past hurt.  I’m not going to try to cover up who I am.  Isaiah 52:14 foretells the mutilation that Jesus would suffer, “. . . his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness” (NIV Capitalization theirs).  The Archaeological Study Bible states, “This prophecy makes clear that Christ’s treatment at the time of his passion and crucifixion would be absolutely inhumane” (1154).  Yet when Jesus showed Himself to the disciples after His Resurrection, in Luke 24:36-38, He was not only recognizable as Himself, but the only scars that remained were the wounds from the crucifixion.  His scars are who He is, The Savior, He Who died for the sins of the world and our faithful friend.  One day I’m not going to need this body any longer and it will be shed like a garment.  My scars aren’t going to matter anymore.  Hebrews 12:2 proclaims, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (NIV Capitalization theirs).  This joy that Jesus suffered for is you.  He suffered for your salvation.  Look around you, everything that you see will someday be perished; except for your relationship with Jesus or lack thereof.   That reality will be all that remains.   

An Exceptional Honor

Jesus sacrificed His life so that we may enter into covenant relationship with the Father.  For this exceptional honor, we must sacrifice our own lives to His will.  Jesus' pre-existence, birth, life, death and resurrection echo out in all directions, ad infinitum; and the ensuing sound is salvation.  Jesus, as the Greek Logos or Word, was present with the Father and Holy Spirit at creation.  "All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:3).  This truth is foretold in Psalm 33:6, "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them, by the breath of His Mouth."  Jesus was prophesied of in Genesis 3:15, ". . .and between her seed and thy seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."  Job, in his anguish, prophesies Jesus' personage, "For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth" (Job 19:25).  The familiar verse of Isaiah 9:6 proclaims, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder. . ."  Jesus' death and resurrection have deep implications for all mankind.  Due to His sacrifice, all men now have access to salvation.  At His death on the cross, Mark 15:38 records, "And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom."  This veil was a partition that separated the the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple.  The Holy of Holies was the inner private space of the temple that only the high priest was allowed to enter for atonement.  It is so intriguingly relevant that God wishes for you to enter His most intimate sphere as He enters yours, your heart.  This veil symbolizes the separation of God and man, at Jesus' death it was torn and the way was made clear for man to approach God covered by the righteousness of Christ's blood.  If you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the way is clear for you to come to Him.  Cry out to Him, He has been waiting for all eternity to answer you.

No Man Knows. . .

Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, 36, "Sky and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But of that (exact) day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Amplified Bible) If Jesus doesn't know the time of His return, it is safe to say that the May 21, 2011 doomsdayer doesn't know either. God is calling all of us to His heart. . . He loves you!