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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion November 10, 2007 “Bringing God Down to Us” |
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Frontline Devotion for Saturday, November 10, 2007 by Don Kress
Romans 6:5-11 “Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new grace-sovereign country. Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the Cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life – no longer at sin’s every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.” (The Message)
When I began thinking about this passage and the focus of this devotion, I went straight to verse 8: “If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection.” That’s a powerful verse and a comforting thought. But the more I read this passage, the more I became attracted to verse 10: “When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us.” The living Jesus brings God down to us. That’s what he does!
On November 1, the Thursday Morning Breakfast Devotions Group of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church began a devotional study that will take us through December. It’s from the “Every Day With Jesus” devotional series written by Selwyn Hughes, a Welsh theologian. This two-month study is entitled “The Great Divide.” That title comes from verse 14 of the first chapter of John: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” Hughes calls this – the incarnation of Christ – “the great divide of Christianity because it separates the Christian faith from every other religion on earth. In all other religions the emphasis is on humanity’s search for God; in Christianity the emphasis is on God’s search for men and women. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not merely an exhortation – in other words, telling us to do something – but an exhibition – showing us what God has done for us.”
Hughes says that, “Many religions have a word become words, but only the Christian faith has a Word become flesh.” In all other religions, their articles of belief (the word) are expressed through words that break down into philosophies, systems, techniques, etc. Their principles are conveyed in words. Only in Christianity did the Word become flesh. Our principles are conveyed in the Person of Jesus Christ. Other religions set out to show humankind how to extend a ladder up to God in order to attain salvation. In Christianity the ladder has been dropped down to us out of heaven, and God Himself has come down that ladder in the Person of His one and only Son. The living Jesus brings God down to us!
The other truth in today’s passage is that in bringing God down to us, Jesus gives us power over sin and its consequence. (Today’s passage is about justification and sanctification, two words about which I wrote a Frontline Devotion on January 21, 2007. I encourage you to visit the Frontline archives on the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church website if you’re interested in revisiting that subject.) The wonderful truth is that while we can never reach a point in this life where it’s not possible to sin, we can have a relationship with Jesus Christ in which it becomes possible not to sin. We can indeed be dead to sin and alive to God.
You can’t tell it based upon the current decorations in malls and shopping plazas, but Advent is still a few weeks away, and I realize as I write this that this devotion may seem like it would be more appropriate for Advent. But perhaps we tend to limit the fact of the incarnation too much to Advent and Christmas. Perhaps we don’t spend enough time talking about this “great divide.” The living Jesus brings God down to us. That’s what he does! We should never limit that fact to just a few weeks a year.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for dropping a ladder down to me from heaven. May I use the time between now and Christmas to gain a clearer understanding of and a new appreciation for the wonder of your incarnation. I ask it in your name. Amen.
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