The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe
"The Lens of Christ"
How adequate in the sight of God the Father is the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of those who believe? This adequate…
"Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Romans 4:8).
The death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus so avails for the redeemed that God will not place sin on our account in any manner that jeopardizes our relationship with Him. Our Savior so fully "bore our sin" and was "made to be sin for us" on the cross that God would violate His standard of perfect righteousness if He imputed our sins to us after having done so to Christ. His justice will not allow for such an administration of a judgment already executed (I Peter 2:24; II Corinthians 5:21),
"But this man, after He had made one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on the right hand of God… there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins" (Hebrews 10:12; 26).
The resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus also avails for our relationship and standing of being forever "accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6).
"For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us" (Hebrews 9:24).
Whatever may happen in our lives on earth, God first sees His Son in Heaven as our perfectly effectual Mediator. The wounds of Calvary remain on our Lord's glorified body as the evidence of His "one sacrifice for sins forever," whereby "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). God the Father sees believers through the lens of Christ, that is, who the Lord Jesus is to Him and to us, and what He has done for the Father and for us. Our thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions may sometimes not attain to God's standards. However, those of the Lord Jesus always do, and the Father forever bases and secures our relationship to Him through the perfect faithfulness of His Son. "Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us… righteousness" (I Corinthians 1:30).
Realizing this breathtakingly wondrous basis of our relationship and standing with God goes far in establishing our capacity to journey upon the path of righteousness. No believer will long walk faithfully with our Father if we fail to "look unto Jesus" as "the author and finisher of our faith." The writer of Hebrews clearly identifies this Christ-focused gaze of the heart as the means whereby we avoid becoming "wearied and faint" (Hebrews 12:2-3). Growing discovery of the Bible's declaration of who our Lord is for us and what He has done provides powerful motivation and enabling to not only rejoice in freely given righteousness of relationship and standing, but also to live our lives "being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God" (Philippians 1:11). Yes, we live for our crucified, risen, and ascended Savior by living from who He is, and what He has done for the Father and for us. No other way exists whereby we "walk and please God" (I Thessalonians 4:1). No other way is needed.
Through the lens of Christ. God's views His trusting sons and daughters in such grace and mercy. We must join our Father in this blessed realization of His beloved Son and our glorious Savior's person and work as the abundant means of providing and securing our relationship, thereby empowering the life that should and must ensue. Christ only. Christ always. Christ forever. The light eternally shines in our Father's eyes. May we see, and may its reflection more and more shine in ours.
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
(Matthew 3:17)
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
(Romans 5:1)
Weekly Memory Verse
Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!
(Psalm 31:19)
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