Saturday, April 5, 2014

Celebrate Easter Big -- Lent: Day 32

Scripture:  Galatians 1:3-5

Wesley Hill has written a good book called, “Washed and Waiting.”  “Washed” is a reference to 1 Corinthians 6:11:  “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST and by the Spirit of our GOD.  “Waiting” is a reference to Romans 8:23, 25:  “We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies . . . . If we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

Many of the Lenten devotionals I have written have centered on the redemptive work of GOD in us through what JESUS accomplished through His death, burial, and resurrection.  We have been “washed.”  But we are still residing in this fallen and broken world as aliens in a foreign land (1 Peter 2:11).  So we are “waiting” for the day when we will arrive to our eternal home.

The present age is an evil age because sin has such a grip on our lives and because Satan is allowed so much power.  Did you know unbelievers can have their minds blinded by “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4)?  That’s one reason why we must be very careful in judging others.  Believers can also be blinded and deceived by the Enemy.  That’s why a great percentage of believers can walk in pride and self-righteousness and not even be aware of it (1 John 2:11).

But the good news is that for those of us who are believers, the rescue has begun (Colossians 1:13).  We have “tasted the powers of the age to come” (Hebrews 6:5).  Paul said, “If anyone is in CHRIST, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I love Galatians 5:1:  “It was for freedom that CHRIST set us free (it is a completed act, it is an on-going process, and it will culminate in our new home) . . . .”

JESUS is Risen . . . !

Richard Holloman

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