God is faithful and good. God is sovereign. God is our redeemer.
When have we been rescued?
Act four: Rescue, Week 4
This week, if you struggled to answer the question of the week, it is understandable. The "when question" is such a hard concept to wrap our human minds around. In Act One: Week One, we answered a similar question, "When do we meet the Author?". The word 'when' denotes time, and time is so complex, isn't it? Remembering that He who had no beginning knew our beginning. Locked in a jail of time, we are restricted by what we see and understand. We are only given a glimpse into God's perfect rescue plan and the lengths to which He has gone to rescue us back to a right relationship with Him.
Initially, we may want to respond to this question with 'at the cross', but God's perfect rescue plan didn't start at the cross. It started in Genesis, way back in the Garden of Eden. Do you remember when Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, (because of sin) and the Lord stationed the cherubim and the flaming swords that turned in every direction? The Lord was rescuing Adam and Eve from taking from the Tree of Life. If Adam had eaten from this tree after he sinned, he would have lived forever in a state of eternal separation from God—and so would we. (Genesis 3:24) God rescued us in the Garden.
In Exodus 26:33-35 and Leviticus 16:2, we catch a glimpse of the requirements and regulations of worship that God gave in order for His people to be in His presence. God wanted to dwell with His people desperately. He wanted to rescue them and be with them. He wanted to tabernacle (dwell, abide) with His people. Under His direction, in demonstration of His holiness, He created another separation, not of twirling swords this time, but a veil, a curtain, that separated the most Holy place where God dwelled— the mercy seat. Sin was so great, that God could have left His people alone to wander in willful sin forever. But He didn't. He rescued His people by providing a way for the high priest to enter with the blood sacrifice for sin. Daily and faithfully, the priest repeatedly offered the sacrifice, foreshadowing the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate rescue. Without the shedding of blood, there is no rescue, no forgiveness. God provided atonement and forgiveness for sin, a way for us to be in a relationship with He who is holy. God rescued us in the Tabernacle.
In Luke 23:42-24:12, Jesus fulfills the regulations of worship that God required so that His people could be in a relationship with Him. God is faithful and good, He loved us so much that he provided, from His hand, the ultimate sacrifice for all of our sins— His only Son. Jesus said, when talking about himself, "This son must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified and on the third-day rise. (Luke 24:7) He knew the rescue plan. In obedience to His Father and because of His great love for us, Jesus came to live with us, to die for us the death that we deserved, and to rescue us from our sins and into a relationship with God. God rescued us on the Cross.
The word rescue means to escape from a terrible destiny or predicament. In this case, the terrible destiny is eternal separation from our God, our king. It is a horrible predicament, and it took a horrible sacrifice at the perfect time. "while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this, he breathed his last. (Luke 23: 45-46) so that we could breathe forever our first and not be separated from our God anymore. God rescued us when the curtain tore.
Just like our rescue didn't begin on the cross, it didn't end there either. The blood shed by our savior was not just for all the sins of the past, but for the future as well. In Hebrews 10:12-18 we read that, " But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God... For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified... then he adds, 'I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.' Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin." For all time, past, present, and future. With the curtain torn, Jesus sat down, and so can we, at the table of our Lord. Nobody else is needed, no other priest. It is your face-to-face conversation, your prayers with your Father that never end. God rescued us when He sat down.
We are a part of His plan; He is not twisting our arms and forcing us to sit at the table with Him. The rescue is a gift of His grace. He is giving us a choice to accept it. Romans 10:9-11 tells us that WE must believe in our hearts that Jesus was raised from the dead (we are forgiven) and confess with our mouths that He is Lord. (we will serve and follow Him as king) This is by grace, through faith and faith alone. God rescued us when we confessed.
Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we are in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God’s plan is that we all experience the rescue. But "...the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, to the ones who can not see and who do not believe." (1 Corinthians 1:18) Many say they know of God, but we want to say we know Him. While we are here on earth, how can we not serve Him with our life, the life that He gave us? It isn't a piece of cake, but we have a hope that does not fade. Jesus has prepared a place for us, God rescues us when He returns.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
Meghan
