03 April 2010

3 April 2010,

What I’m thinking about today, the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday…

Jesus’ sacrifice He made for us.
Jesus’ saving us.
The gift of Salvation.

I was reading Romans 8:35-37. My understanding is this: God is for us and nothing that tries to go against us will succeed because we have victory over evil because of Jesus. This applies to our souls, our spirits. That is who we are. Our flesh bodies are the vessels that hold our spirits while we’re here on earth. They are temporary. These vessels get cracks, dents, and chips; they feel and bear the effects of evil and sin that we allow.

These bodies are temporary, so when the Apostle Paul tells us that we will suffer, and struggle with trouble, calamity, persecution, hunger, danger, and even death, these things will happen to our bodies. We can have sick broken-down bodies, yet we can be whole. The condition of our spirit determines our state of well-being. As long as we are in right standing with God, if we are walking with Him in His will for us, submitting our souls to Him, we are whole, therefore healthy, regardless of the condition of our bodies.

Jesus sacrificed His body. He gave up His body willingly, bore unimaginable physical pain because of the sin in the world; He suffered far worse emotional pain during that period of separation from His Father, when all earth was in total darkness that afternoon He was hanging on the cross. He did not sacrifice His body to save our bodies. His spirit lives. All He went through—the beatings, the mockery, the spikes hammered into his hands and feet, the insults and stares from the spectators, the soldier’s spit running down his face, the separation from God… He endured all these horrible things so our spirits can live on with Him and our Father in Heaven for eternity, and to spare us from permanent separation from God after He comes again.

I’ll finish up with Romans 8:38-39: “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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