A Lenten Reflection
Why isn't Christ enough?
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" Romans 6:23.
I'm someone who can be known to run down every scenario to a possible event, over and over again in my mind. I imagine, for good and bad, all the possible outcomes, ramifications and consequences. This often leads me to "fret" (a nickname I was once given long ago by a dear friend), and can bring me to dread actually dealing with what is before me. It is strange that usually facing the situation it is far less stressful than the days and hours of mental anguish I put myself through beforehand.
So I can't fathom how I would have processed that last journey to Passover in Jerusalem, if I were Christ. Each step closer to cheers of Hosanna, each dusty step closer to a betrayal, each movement bringing the farce of a trial, whips and beatings nearer and nearer. The cross and nails just over the horizon.
The dread of the pain, both physical and emotional (betrayal is never easy, after all) would have paralyzed me. In anxiety, in trepidation and indecision.
With this facet of my character very well known to me, it makes me marvel all the more at everything Christ Jesus did; when I contemplate His journey, the last supper, the garden and betrayal, the trial and last walk....and then the Cross, I am overcome by grateful and humble thanks. For even just the *thought* of such things freezes my soul in pain and fear....and the realization of *why* He went through it often brings me to tears.
Because it was my sin- my ever abundant, wretched sin- that my Lord took with Him to the Cross. It was for love of me- unworthy me- that He was whipped. It was so that I could be saved- I who deserve no such salvation- that He allowed the nails to pierce Him.
My sins meant I had earned the wages of death...yet I was not called upon to pay that penalty; my Savior stepped in and said, "No, I will bear her cost, I will redeem her. She is mine."
There are churches led by wolves in pulpits that tell us we come to services so that we can ask of God what we want; that He will make us rich if we but speak it into being. Or those same "teachers" tell us that worship is about us, and how we are glorified in God. They have made man and man's desire the object of worship, and God simply the means to lift man up. These entertainment venues which use Christ's name as a slogan or an assurance of how this life will be great, if you just give to the salesman...I mean pastor, what you are told to give.
They have reduced Jesus to a side show and gimmick...and they sell a message of "Jesus plus." Whether it is Jesus plus riches, or Jesus plus politics, of Jesus plus culture.....the message is always the same.....that Jesus isn't enough.
I never understood the formula of "Jesus plus...."
Because the God who loves me enough to have died to redeemed me IS enough. I need no other reason to worship Him, no other reason to call Him Lord. I serve Him, not out of hopes that I will get "what I want" in prayer, but because He has saved me and called me His own.
The wonder and love that a lost soul, who has been saved and made clean, for the Savior cannot be fully expressed. One of my favorite Bible verses says it far better than I can;
"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift." 2 Corinthians 9:15
The love and mercy of Christ Jesus are enough. He alone is worthy to be worshiped, and I need no other incentive to do so.....He is enough.
"By this we know love, that He laid down his life for us,..."1 John 3:16.
Charles Spurgeon, speaking on the gift of Christ to men, said this; "Look down into this abyss of love. Be you sure of this, that this depth is unfathomable! It is idle to attempt a definition of infinity and, therefore, vain to hope to declare how wide, how high, how deep, how broad is the wondrous gift of God to the sons of men!"
The deep abyss of love, beyond what men can describe, is what kept Jesus walking that journey to Jerusalem. That love is what endured the agony of torment in the garden, the betrayal, the whips and lashes...the nails and the cross lifted high. That love is what bore my sins, and the sins of all who belong to Him, so that we might be redeemed and sanctified by His sacrifice and death.
Is Christ enough for you? Only if He is enough will you cling to Him with love, trust and faith. Only if He is enough will you elevate Him to lord of your life. He is not a gimmick, a trick, a genie or an ideal to be used to make your life what you want it to be. He is either Lord of all of your life, or master of none of it.
Do you love and trust Him? He who bore your sins? He who redeems the lost sheep in love? He who is worthy of all glory, honor and praise?
Is He Lord of your life? Is He enough?
He is for me.
On towards the Cross,
-Beth Haynes Butler
Why isn't Christ enough?
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" Romans 6:23.
I'm someone who can be known to run down every scenario to a possible event, over and over again in my mind. I imagine, for good and bad, all the possible outcomes, ramifications and consequences. This often leads me to "fret" (a nickname I was once given long ago by a dear friend), and can bring me to dread actually dealing with what is before me. It is strange that usually facing the situation it is far less stressful than the days and hours of mental anguish I put myself through beforehand.
So I can't fathom how I would have processed that last journey to Passover in Jerusalem, if I were Christ. Each step closer to cheers of Hosanna, each dusty step closer to a betrayal, each movement bringing the farce of a trial, whips and beatings nearer and nearer. The cross and nails just over the horizon.
The dread of the pain, both physical and emotional (betrayal is never easy, after all) would have paralyzed me. In anxiety, in trepidation and indecision.
With this facet of my character very well known to me, it makes me marvel all the more at everything Christ Jesus did; when I contemplate His journey, the last supper, the garden and betrayal, the trial and last walk....and then the Cross, I am overcome by grateful and humble thanks. For even just the *thought* of such things freezes my soul in pain and fear....and the realization of *why* He went through it often brings me to tears.
Because it was my sin- my ever abundant, wretched sin- that my Lord took with Him to the Cross. It was for love of me- unworthy me- that He was whipped. It was so that I could be saved- I who deserve no such salvation- that He allowed the nails to pierce Him.
My sins meant I had earned the wages of death...yet I was not called upon to pay that penalty; my Savior stepped in and said, "No, I will bear her cost, I will redeem her. She is mine."
There are churches led by wolves in pulpits that tell us we come to services so that we can ask of God what we want; that He will make us rich if we but speak it into being. Or those same "teachers" tell us that worship is about us, and how we are glorified in God. They have made man and man's desire the object of worship, and God simply the means to lift man up. These entertainment venues which use Christ's name as a slogan or an assurance of how this life will be great, if you just give to the salesman...I mean pastor, what you are told to give.
They have reduced Jesus to a side show and gimmick...and they sell a message of "Jesus plus." Whether it is Jesus plus riches, or Jesus plus politics, of Jesus plus culture.....the message is always the same.....that Jesus isn't enough.
I never understood the formula of "Jesus plus...."
Because the God who loves me enough to have died to redeemed me IS enough. I need no other reason to worship Him, no other reason to call Him Lord. I serve Him, not out of hopes that I will get "what I want" in prayer, but because He has saved me and called me His own.
The wonder and love that a lost soul, who has been saved and made clean, for the Savior cannot be fully expressed. One of my favorite Bible verses says it far better than I can;
"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift." 2 Corinthians 9:15
The love and mercy of Christ Jesus are enough. He alone is worthy to be worshiped, and I need no other incentive to do so.....He is enough.
"By this we know love, that He laid down his life for us,..."1 John 3:16.
Charles Spurgeon, speaking on the gift of Christ to men, said this; "Look down into this abyss of love. Be you sure of this, that this depth is unfathomable! It is idle to attempt a definition of infinity and, therefore, vain to hope to declare how wide, how high, how deep, how broad is the wondrous gift of God to the sons of men!"
The deep abyss of love, beyond what men can describe, is what kept Jesus walking that journey to Jerusalem. That love is what endured the agony of torment in the garden, the betrayal, the whips and lashes...the nails and the cross lifted high. That love is what bore my sins, and the sins of all who belong to Him, so that we might be redeemed and sanctified by His sacrifice and death.
Is Christ enough for you? Only if He is enough will you cling to Him with love, trust and faith. Only if He is enough will you elevate Him to lord of your life. He is not a gimmick, a trick, a genie or an ideal to be used to make your life what you want it to be. He is either Lord of all of your life, or master of none of it.
Do you love and trust Him? He who bore your sins? He who redeems the lost sheep in love? He who is worthy of all glory, honor and praise?
Is He Lord of your life? Is He enough?
He is for me.
On towards the Cross,
-Beth Haynes Butler
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