Unlocking the Joy of the Gospel: A Journey Towards Spiritual Liberation
Ezekiel 45-46; Hebrews 9; Ecclesiastes 5
I’m coming back to the wonder of the Gospel! And I’m consumed with it. Consumed with the invitation we have to come in close, face to face with the One who loves us best and most.
Do you ever go through seasons where you just feel dull? It’s like the Gospel, the way you’ve understood it, maybe even your perspective of God, feels too heavy. It’s not light. It’s not easy. I don’t know exactly how that happens, but I know it does. Somehow, our relationship with God feels like a yoke, and we realize we have bought into that old system of religion that wears us down and out.
More and more, I’m starting to see that these heavy seasons mean we are coming close to the door of a new invitation. God is longing to reveal something new about His nature and heart toward us. Not that it’s new to Him, but it will be new to us. The realization that we are operating under a yoke is the invitation that we can take it off and get free.
Do you know what I mean? Have you had this experience?
I am in that exact season. I’m laying stuff down, and God is bringing me into an upgrade of my theology, which is really to say, that He’s revealing Himself to me in a greater way. And what I see in Him is just so, so good.
He’s better than we think! He’s more wonderful than we can imagine. And what He’s done for us is more glorious than we can comprehend.
Let’s look at Him together.
Hebrews 9:
14 Yet how much more will the sacred blood of the Messiah thoroughly cleanse our consciences! For by the power of the eternal Spirit he has offered himself to God as the perfect Sacrifice that now frees us from our dead works to worship and serve the living God. 15 So Jesus is the One who has enacted a new covenant with a new relationship with God so that those who accept the invitation will receive the eternal inheritance he has promised to his heirs. For he died to release us from the guilt of the violations committed under the first covenant.
Haha! We don’t have to waste another minute on dead works! You’ve been set free to relate to your Father. You’ve been liberated for a relationship with the Godhead. What’s past is over. What was lacking, and let’s be honest, we were lacking, has been covered and redeemed.
When we come to Him, we aren’t coming in with a consciousness of sin. That’s all gone. As we draw near, our awareness is rather that we have been and will be fully accepted. What Good News.
24 For the Messiah did not enter into the earthly tabernacle made by men, which was but an echo of the true sanctuary, but he entered into heaven itself to appear before the face of God in our place.
Jesus has entered into the true tabernacle “in our place.” Together, with Him, we appear before our Father, and what do we receive? Love! We receive grace. What Good News!
There is no gap, no distance. We are here, but friends, we are there! We appear with Christ before our Father and we are loved. Hallelujah!!
25 Under the old system year after year the high priest entered the most holy sanctuary with blood that was not his own. But the Messiah did not need to repeatedly offer himself year after year, for that would mean he must suffer repeatedly ever since the fall of the world. But now he has appeared at the fulfillment of the ages to abolish sin once and for all by the sacrifice of himself! 27 Every human being is appointed to die once, and then to face God’s judgment. 28 But when we die we will be face-to-face with Christ, the One who experienced death once for all to bear the sins of many!
Face-to-face! This is our future. This is our present. We have been brought in close. We are in the New Covenant. We live in the finished work of Christ and what He has accomplished on the cross. What is our portion? What is our part? Only to say yes! Only to receive!
Our Jesus has done it! Our calling is to be a witness to that finished work. He has done it!! And so, because He has, let’s run in. Let’s come in close, since that is the invitation, and experience together the wonderful love of our Father. He’s good, and His mercy endures forever. Yes, and amen!
Deepening Faith: Reflective Journal Prompts
- Reflect on a Time of Transformation: Think back to a season in your life that felt heavy and difficult. How did that period help to transform your understanding or relationship with God? What new invitation might God have been revealing to you during that time?
- Contemplating the Yoke of Religion: Write about any beliefs or practices in your faith journey that have felt like a heavy yoke rather than a liberating presence. How can you begin to lay these burdens down and embrace the freedom God offers?
- Encounter with God’s Nature: Describe a recent moment when you felt particularly close to God. What did this encounter teach you about His nature that was new or reaffirming to your faith?
- The Finished Work of Christ: How does understanding that Christ has completed His work affect your daily life and spiritual practices? Reflect on the freedom this realization brings and how it might change your approach to worship and service.
- The Invitation to Come Closer: Consider the current invitations God might be extending to you to come closer. What are they, and how can responding to these invitations change your relationship with God? What might be holding you back, and how can you overcome these obstacles?
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