I’ve had something milling around in my heart for maybe the
last twelve months that I have only now begun to start to verbalise and chew
over. It’s something that I wish I had have known growing up, but I am also
thankful that I have a full life ahead of me to live out in a manner worthy of
the One who gave it to me.
As a follower of Jesus, I have always accepted that He was
crucified as in innocent man to pay the death penalty for all mankind to create
access to God the Father and, on acceptance of this gift, eternal life in
Heaven. And while this is true, it’s not the whole story! But for too long, it’s
been the only story that our world has been exposed to. Why, even this week we
had a tract slipped into our mailbox asking, “If you died today, are you 100%
sure Heaven will be your home? You can be, if you…” The message this tract is
sending is that the goal of Christianity is to convert poor, lost sinner souls
to get an A+ when we reach those pearly gates. Please don’t get me wrong. Jesus
died so that all may know the truth and come into communion with the Father – but it doesn’t stop there!!
Let’s go back to the beginning. Adam and Eve. God’s prized
creations. Why were humans so special? Because we are created in God’s image!
Not even the angels can claim that. God trusted Adam so much that He commissioned
Adam to name all the animals that had been created. Just think on that for a
moment. God invited Adam into the creation process. They co-laboured. God’s
original intention for man was to co-labour with us in creating. Wow. It says
in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. What
does this mean? That we were destined for glory!! You can’t fall short of
something that you weren’t on track to receive! God’s plan for humankind was to
dwell in His glory. However, a well-known couple messed that up for us (though
I’ve pondered the fact that if it wasn’t them – would it have been someone else…)
which meant that we fell short of our original purpose and were separated from
our life source – the Father.
Fast forward a few thousand years and we have Jesus. Jesus
who was both fully man and fully God. He came to earth as a baby – born of
immaculate conception to not be bound to the human heritage of sin passed down
through the male line – and grew up to be a miracle working, kingdom bringing, Pharisee
offending man in the Middle East. The last verse of John tells us that if all
the miracles of Jesus were written down that even the whole world would not
have room for the books that were written. Now, I understand that this is most
likely an exaggeration, but even so, that still leaves a lot of room for
miracles!
All throughout the gospels, Jesus refers to a Kingdom not of
this earth. He also rewrites the law to point to a renewed relationship with
the Father. The [Mosaic] Law was ruling the Jewish world at this time, but
Jesus had actually come to earth to fulfil this [Mosaic] Law and prepare the
way for the Father’s new covenant with mankind (Matt 5:17). Jesus became our
example of how we can live when in right relationship with the Father. He became
the standard. We, as his followers, are called and empowered to live a life
like Jesus! You see, this is the best part about God our Father – He’s a great
Dad! He made a way for us to become righteous, and in that righteousness have
access to all that Jesus had access to!! But how do we know that? It tells us
in Romans 8:15 that we are no longer slaves [to sin] but have received a spirit
of adoption as sons [and daughters] of God. If God truly sees us as his
children, then we have an inheritance equal to Jesus! Now, of course, I’m
talking about the standard access we have to the Father and the gifts of the
Holy Spirit etc – not to be confused with our reward in Heaven or the favour we
have with God.
I’m also reminded of the scripture in 1 John 4:17 that shows
that as he is so are we in this world
(italics mine). Right now Jesus is glorified in Heaven. And this verse tells us
as he is so are we… Paul also tells us in Romans 8 that the same
power that raised Jesus from the dead actually lives in us when we have
received the gift Jesus gave through his death and resurrection. There is no
difference between the Spirit that lived in Jesus and the Spirit that we invite
in. That’s definitely a ‘selah’ moment to think about and dwell on.
So. What did Jesus actually die for? To give people a ticket
to Heaven? We need to change our perspective. Heaven is not the goal. Heaven is
simply a [great] consequence to accepting Jesus. The goal is to live like Jesus
did. The goal is to make sure I am making the most of the gift Jesus paid for.
The goal is to love our neighbours with such an unselfish love that they see
the Father. Our goal is to end suffering through the power of the gospel given
to us by the Holy Spirit. Our goal is to break the yoke of oppression and bring
the truth – because it’s only the truth that will make people free. So let’s
commit to bringing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so that
Jesus will get his full reward!
