Dare We?

Dare we stand before the living God and declare the right to live our own lives the way that we see fit?

Still think God gave His life so that you could enjoy your "best life now" in this temporal world?

It is only when we completely ignore the depth of His sacrifice that we can make faith in Him to be something so shallow and self-serving.

While we were oblivious to our own plight and dead in our sin, Jesus died for us.  Yet, how many times do we go about our own way each day...and not even notice Him?  Do you think there is even one moment that God has not considered the life of His Son?

The Scriptures say that Jesus' appearance was greatly marred by His death; He was beaten, slapped, whipped, flogged, pierced, crushed, and had pieces of his beard pulled out. In His resurrection, He received a glorified spiritual body, the likes of which we are also promised to receive (I Corinthians 15).  These bodies will be incorruptible, glorious, and raised in power.

However we also know that after Jesus was resurrected, He retained some of His scars, even in His glorified state.

"But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing." John 20:24-27

The wounds in Jesus' hands and sides were still there.  It reminds me of Revelations Chapter 5, when there was much weeping because it seemed that no one was worthy to open the seals of the book. Then, one of the elders reminds John of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and Scripture says in the midst of the throne "stood a Lamb as it had been slain".  The evidence of Jesus' scars show forth that He is indeed worthy and testify to the price He has paid!

Just like Eve came from Adam, the church was birthed out of the very life of Christ. And as Eve was taken from Adam's side, the last Adam keeps a scar on His side to remind us of the price paid for His Bride.  Similarly, Jesus retains the scars in His hands to show that He has indeed fulfilled His Father's commands in securing the plan of salvation for man.

The Hebrew name of our Lord, Yeshua, is made up of four Hebrew letters: Yod Shin Vav Ayin.

Yod stands for Hand,
The Shin stands for El Shaddi,
Vav is a picture of a Nail,
Ayin stands for the Eye, meaning: to See.

Since Hebrew is read from right-to-left, reading these as pictures gives you: "See the Nail in El Shaddi's Hand."

The wounds Jesus bears - even until this day - show what He has given in obedience to the Father in order to secure Himself a Bride.  It was a sacrifice that came at a heavy cost, and so He asks us, "Have you counted the costs? (Luke 14:27-35)" 

Don't be mistaken into thinking that there is no cost to having faith in Christ. He who works to save this temporal life shall lose it.  He who loses hold of this temporal life for Christ's sake shall find life eternal (Matthew 16:25).

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1

For more info on the movie from which the video below is based, please see the website for Most, The Movie.