SOUL’d OUT
November 1st, 2023
Psalm 18:19, ‘He stood me up in a wide-open field. I stood there saved; surprised to be loved!’ (MSG)
Trust HIM
(Continued…)
John 3:16-18, ‘“This is how much God loved the world: He gave His Son, His one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending His Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in Him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust Him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to Him.”’ (MSG)
Last week, we climbed a mountain, and we sneaked a peek from where we strayed, hidden deep in the thicket. We didn’t think we should trust our ears as we listened in, straining to hear the private conversation between father and son. I am sure you heard my barely audible gulp escaping my lips when Isaac asked his daddy where the lamb for the sacrifice was, as he held the wood for the fire close to his chest.
We also could not believe our eyes as Abraham wrapped the binding ‘round and ‘round the smallness of the boy. We wept as we watched the look of trust and terror battle it out in the gaze of the child toward his dad. I saw the tears on your cheeks before you brushed them away. We both bit back a gasp that almost slipped out, which would have given away our hiding place, as Abraham picked up Isaac and laid him on the altar. Even our hearts betrayed us. We could not fathom a father so obedient to the point of sacrifice of his son. That’s what we thought last week in the quiet of our thoughts and in light of what we witnessed.
But God. I remember it so clearly still today. We held our breath as an Angel of the Lord grabbed the intention of the father. His hand and the knife in it fell to his side as a ram wandered out of the bush, and the son climbed from the altar into his father’s arms.
So, journey now with me up a long dusty road. Watch with me the obedience of the Son here and witness another Father Who is willing to sacrifice His only beloved Son for the benefit and rescue of you and me, and all mankind. Like we crouched just out of view last week, hunch down with me now. I have something else to show you. Spoiler alert! This time, there will not be a ram caught in the thicket.
The chaos has been ludicrous. There has been bedlam in the streets. No one can seem to get themselves together. One moment, I swear I heard them chanting ‘Hosanna in the Highest!’ Some shouted, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Then, suddenly, before long, they began screaming, ‘Crucify Him! Crucify Him!’ The weeping, the looting, the agony, the darkness that fell as they whipped the Son of Man and crowned Him King of the Jews. Can you see Him from where you huddle; can you see the love upon His face? There is a passion that is willing to do anything for someone. Can you see it in His eyes as His gaze seeks to find you and me? Did you hear it in His voice as He cried out to His Father, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” Can’t you see the anguish upon His shoulders as He bears a weight that we know nothing of? Won’t you help me get Him down from there? I can’t fathom what He—Who I believe is the Son of God—is suffering and enduring right now. Come with me. Even though we don’t understand, won’t you kneel with me here and worship Him in Spirit and in Truth for the grace He has shown to us?
There was one thing the blood of the sacrifice upon the altar we witnessed last week could never do, and that is to cleanse all of us once and for all. For every sin committed and every sin yet to be committed, not one burnt offering could atone for it all, cover it through eternity. Never would you be able to be fully cleaned up and acceptable in the sight of a Holy God. Never could I in my humanity hang out and call Him Yahweh. Never could we know Him and personalize Him and believe the God of the Universe identifies with you and me. Thus, a loving Father gave His beloved Son as the unblemished Lamb, a perfect sacrifice, so after all, we can come into the presence of God Almighty, and believe we are as He sees us, not as we see ourselves. He even tattooed my name and yours on His palm.
On that day, on the day of the slave auction, He showed up. He bought us back. He paid the penalty, the ransom, to buy back you and me from the enemy where we were enslaved to sin, kept by wickedness, stunned with shame. The evidence of evil was so great against me, the price on your head so extreme, the guilty indictments leaving behind no hope to overcome a death penalty with which mankind is charged. But God! He cancelled all the hidden fees.
And on that day, grace arrived! We are acquitted! We can come out of hiding; we are saved, and we are loved. The redemption by the perfect and obedient Son, sacrificed by the willing Father Who chose to buy us back, so that we no longer have to surrender or be enslaved by sin. Come with me! Trust Him Who is mighty to save. Trust Him, Who is soul’d out to you and me. He was willing to sacrifice it all for us.
Psalms 42:11, ‘Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues? Fix my eyes on God—soon I’ll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He is my God.’ (MSG)
