LIFE BETWEEN THE BOOKENDS
"So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin." - Romans 7:25
Paul, who wrote the above passage, understood the tension of living saved, but living sinful. You see, Jesus did in fact die to release us from the prison of sin. Even while He was pinned to the cross, He cried out, "It is finished." His work was finished. At the moment of His death, the curtain in the temple that separated the holiest part of the temple from the rest was torn in two. This ripping of fabric symbolized the entrance of a new era where religious institutions were no longer required to access the presence of God. Direct communion with Holy God became a reality in the person of Jesus Christ.
But (and it is a big but, as Malcolm pointed out on Sunday), our present lives don't always appear to reflect these truths. In fact, some would say that they rarely, if ever do. If Christ crucified my sin, and I am free from it forever, and I have direct access to God's Holy presence, why does evil still run rampant in my life? In my world? Why do I still sin? Why do I still crave false gods instead of the One True God? Why do I still struggle with the same temptations and frustrations and aches year in and year out? It would appear that there is a contradiction between my theology and my frame of experience.
My theology professor used to call this tension life between the bookends. Looking both backwards and forwards we see certain victory. The past shows us the reality that it is, indeed, finished. Christ's blood washes my sin. Once for all time. Looking ahead to the promise of victory in the future, we look forward to the final, total, complete redemption that comes with Christ's return. Right now, this present day, however, we live between the bookends. It is what the Bible refers to as the "Last Days." The Already Not Yet. In this time, we are seeing the beginnings of salvation. We ache for the end.
How do you balance this tension of life between the bookends? How do you reconcile the two? Where does your hope lie? How can we walk this path together?
Paul, who wrote the above passage, understood the tension of living saved, but living sinful. You see, Jesus did in fact die to release us from the prison of sin. Even while He was pinned to the cross, He cried out, "It is finished." His work was finished. At the moment of His death, the curtain in the temple that separated the holiest part of the temple from the rest was torn in two. This ripping of fabric symbolized the entrance of a new era where religious institutions were no longer required to access the presence of God. Direct communion with Holy God became a reality in the person of Jesus Christ.
But (and it is a big but, as Malcolm pointed out on Sunday), our present lives don't always appear to reflect these truths. In fact, some would say that they rarely, if ever do. If Christ crucified my sin, and I am free from it forever, and I have direct access to God's Holy presence, why does evil still run rampant in my life? In my world? Why do I still sin? Why do I still crave false gods instead of the One True God? Why do I still struggle with the same temptations and frustrations and aches year in and year out? It would appear that there is a contradiction between my theology and my frame of experience.
My theology professor used to call this tension life between the bookends. Looking both backwards and forwards we see certain victory. The past shows us the reality that it is, indeed, finished. Christ's blood washes my sin. Once for all time. Looking ahead to the promise of victory in the future, we look forward to the final, total, complete redemption that comes with Christ's return. Right now, this present day, however, we live between the bookends. It is what the Bible refers to as the "Last Days." The Already Not Yet. In this time, we are seeing the beginnings of salvation. We ache for the end.
How do you balance this tension of life between the bookends? How do you reconcile the two? Where does your hope lie? How can we walk this path together?
posted by Journey Church at 2:38 p.m.
1 Comments:
Recognizing this tension helps me be less judgemental of others... and myself. It also helps me long for God to continue changing who I am... It is finished, but the battle still rages. Sometimes those truths are frustrating... but it keeps me hanging onto God!
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