Thoughts
on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength (Vol. 1) - #
344
Michael’s book is
available through:
ABIDING LIFE MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL
Littleton, Colorado
(303) 972-0859 www.abidinglife.com
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Why
Jesus? Michael gives a sweet summary of the trail from Sinner to Saint, and
Jesus’ part. And along the way Michael gives some powerful verses to meditate
on.
DAY 361
Why Sacrifice Jesus?
For in Him all things were created, both in
the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for
Him. And He is before all things, and in
Him all things hold together. –Colossians 1:16, 17
Jesus is the glue that holds all created things together.
“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory
forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36). Whether we are believers or unbelievers, when we
invite sin into our being, Jesus (the glue) is made to bear the sin. Sin is
imposed on Life, Life withdraws, and death begins to fill the vacuum; sin and
death are dwelling where Life should have been. “But if I am doing the very
thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in
me” (Romans 7:20). This result of inviting in sin--Life's withdrawal, sin and
death's filling the vacuum--demands a sacrifice. Why? First, so we will
understand that sin is not
doing wrong, it is losing life. This explains the variety of sacrifices
that we find in the Old Testament. Why would we be called to sacrifice two
innocent doves? A dove’s life represents many things: the evening song, loyalty
in lifelong oneness, peace, the freedom to fly, and more. All of this is lost
when sin is invited in. Second, innocent blood is shed. Darkness moves in where light withdraws.
Death moves in where Life has withdrawn. We have the tendency to think only of
how we suffer the penalty of our sin; the Divine Glue has suffered it all
along. Third, innocent
bloodshed and Life slain returns us to the place of origin, God.
Receiving back Life stays the hand of God. He gave Life to all things created
and jealously guards it, for it is precious to Him. Life is the Word; it is Jesus. He is angry
when it is abused. He wants it all back, and when He gets some back it
satisfies Him. “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all
the clean animals and clean birds, sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord
smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: 'Never again will I curse the
ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from
childhood, and never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and
winter, day and night will never cease'” (Isaiah 25:6). These sacrifices did
not take away sin or its damage; at best, in a sense, they just covered the
whole mess up. Continued abuse of the Life in man brought God to a point where
He was not even interested in such sacrifices. Isaiah 1:11, “I have more than
enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no
pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats!” In the Old Testament there never was a demand for
a human sacrifice, but sin and death had reached such a level of offense that
no animal sacrifice could cover it up; a human sacrifice would seem to be the
next logical step, but there was a problem. An innocent dove for a minor
sin or a lamb for a moderate sin could easily be found, but where would be found an innocent
man? “There are none righteous! No not one!” “You were dead in your
transgressions and sins!” (Romans 3:10 and Ephesians 2:1) For a major
sin there was no sacrifice; there was only a judgment. Death! Death did not
appease God, it did not cover up the sin, and it really did not help man. Death
through the Law was an attempt to keep the whole mess from spreading. It was
the best to do in a bad situation. Jesus appears! He is perfect innocence. He is perfect LIFE! He is the
Man! Remember that in the Old Testament when a man made a sacrifice, it
represented how much of the image of TRUE LIFE he had really lost. Man’s loss
of God’s glory is equal to the sacrifice. How far had mankind sunk when Jesus
was sacrificed? What had they lost by the time He was put on the cross? On the cross hung pure LIFE. “He made Him who knew no sin
to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him,”
II Corinthians 5:21. The true Lamb of God came in the fullness of time.
Man had lost everything pertaining to true LIFE. There were so many sins in the
Old Testament for which there was no sacrifice but only judgment. This sacrifice was so great
that it not only covered every sin, but it could also take AWAY sins of the
whole world! When the blood and Life left this Son of Man, it was a
pleasing aroma to God of pure, innocent LIFE! LIFE returned to God not in
measure but in fullness. “For
it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through
the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or
things in heaven,” Colossians 1:19, 20. This gives God peace, for Jesus is
God’s peace and proof that one man was able to live on the earth without ever
making LIFE withdraw, and He did it through weakness and complete dependence on
God. The man who
did everything proclaims that He did nothing, for it was the Father doing it
through Him. His reward
was to go and dwell in as many as He liked, making more sons like Him!
Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point Green
– IT, Incredible Truth
Red – GP, Greatest Promises
Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches Pink
– PV, Priceless Victory
I suppose the one thing that gives God so
much peace is that it was He that was the One who hung on His Cross for
mankind. Jesus was God. God did all that Jesus did.
Amen.
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NOTICE: another blog on
Michael Wells’ book, Sidetracked In The Wilderness, called Getting Out of the
Wilderness. You can access by logging onto
www.leemcchristianministries.blogspot.com
Lee McDowell Christian Ministries
(email) leemccm@gmail.com
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