Bridging the Gap

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. (Ephesians 1:7-10)

A "direct reason" for something occurring - we need to know this, don't we? In fact, if we were to look at the origin of the word 'because', we find it stems from the term "by cause". "Because" sets out the reason for something occurring - some action happening. "Therefore" refers to some set of facts already established acting as the reason we can move to the next thought or action. These words are rich in meaning, as they give us a point of reference for the "reason" we can believe or act upon what it is we are reading. It would be so much easier for God to say it is "because I said so" - but do we really "get" it? Not usually. We don't understand the "why" yet and we are creatures who need to know the "why"! We need the dots connected - it helps us take steps when we see one action leading to another.

We are declared "free" in many different ways. We are free from condemnation, guilt, our sin, the penalty for our sin, our past, and even the limits of our inabilities. Why is it we live so far "below" our level of freedom? We haven't really thought of the "because" by which our freedom became a reality and how reliable that "because" really is! Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah - blood poured out on the altar of the Cross - we are free people. The "why" behind our freedom - the blood of Christ, shed on our behalf, applied to the Cross at Calvary - the purchase of our freedom from sin and the penalty for that sin. It was by the blood of Christ that our understanding of God's grace was opened - it was the blood that made a way possible for us to share in this understanding.

Adam and Eve only saw the two trees - one of life, the other of good and evil. Which do you imagine Satan wanted them to taste of first? If they tasted of the one called "life" - do you think they'd have been inclined to experience good and evil? Not likely! He presented them with the one that would open their eyes to experimenting with good and evil - knowing full well God would not allow them to experience eternal life without a means of restoring them to their innocence! Freedom was totally compromised that day in the garden - freedom was returned to us that day on Calvary. Freedom was the farthest thing from our reach without the intervention of the Cross. Once the Cross provided the "bridge" for our freedom, we were free to cross over and taste of the tree of life. What we could not experience without the Cross was provided free of charge, unearned by any of our own effort. 

If we could see luscious trees full of ripe fruit on the other side of a ravine, hunger deeply set into the fabric of our being, all while we stand in the barrenness of desert land, would we be prone to use the bridge provided to cross over to the other side? Probably so! Why? It makes sense, it satisfies a need, and we'd be considered silly if we just ignored what was right in front of us. So many of us live in the barrenness of the desert rather than using the bridge provided to cross over to the fullness available in Christ Jesus. It isn't because we are comfortable in our present state - but BECAUSE we haven't trusted the bridge provided for US!

Some of us hesitate to fully cross the bridge between past (bondage) and present (freedom). We are stuck in our ways - settling instead for the barrenness of the desert. We don't make the connection with what God has provided and what it is we so desperately need. BECAUSE you have been born with a sin nature, you need a means by which to "bridge" the gap between your sinfulness and God's righteousness. BECAUSE you have no means by which to bridge this gap yourself, God has provided completely free of charge a means by which the gap can be closed - Jesus. BECAUSE of every action Christ took on our behalf, the way has been provided for our total freedom. BECAUSE of his provision, we are declared free. BECAUSE we take the bridge provided, we ARE free! You and I ARE free - not just walking toward freedom, but totally and completely free. What God has declared to be free is free indeed. Isn't it silly to stay in the barrenness of our bondage when we have been granted so much in Christ Jesus? Just asking!

Pulling those corset laces tighter?

A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.  For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.  He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right. O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, what joy for those who trust in you. 

(Psalm 84:10-12 NLT)

No good thing goes undiscovered when we are walking in the presence of the Most High God. In fact, whatever we most need is discovered as we lean into his presence and allow his presence to really "get into" us. Yes, God indwells us, but sometimes we forget to really "breathe" - resting in his presence, allowing him to be all we need for the moment. We give lip-service to him being our "all-in-all", but then we act contrary to that lip-service by not being willing to rest in his presence, waiting on his settling influence to help us sort out our next steps.

For just a moment, imagine an old-fashioned corset of yesteryear - one of those lace up jobs that bound a woman in so tightly. The laces would be pulled so tight that it was almost impossible for the individual to take a deep breath. While bound up, the wearer could not bend without stays digging in, constantly reminding the wearer just how "bound" she was. Yes, she looked rather "put together" while wearing such a binding garment, but she wasn't free to actually be her true self because she was always reminded she was "maintaining" an image of what she wasn't truly.

God's presence doesn't act like a corset, my friends. Indeed, his presence is a liberating and entirely freeing thing. There is a freedom of movement in his presence - nothing like that which the "corset of religion" places upon us. Religion places the corset of rules and regulations - God's presence affords the freedom of relationship through grace. There are times we crawl back into the corset, allowing those rules and regulations we think will give us some privilege in his presence to bind us up and keep us from really relating to him. No rule or regulation gives us any greater sense of his presence, or any higher place in his courts of grace. 

There are lots of "corsets" we don in our lives - ranging from the corset of mistrust to that of envy and bitterness. All have an equally binding effect, and all constantly keep us from freely breathing in his presence. They affect our peace and rather than turning to him to have that corset removed once and for all, we sometimes just remove a stay here and there, thinking that will do it for us. Yes, there is some relief, but we are still bound! Until the laces are undone, entirely removed from their hooks, and the corset is removed from around us, we aren't truly free! His desire is for us to experience his presence "corset free" - not bound by any sin, nor restricted by any set of religious rules. Just sayin!