All the Israelites had to do was cast their eyes on the brazen serpent, and they would be healed. No pleading, no need for guilt. Just the simple surrender of looking to the one thing they knew would save them.
"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up." John 3:14
It's faith that saves us. FAITH. We say we believe it, but still live as though our sins and actions define us. We've been made new. The old is gone, the new has come. Sin is no longer a representation of who we are, but rather, a departure from it. Christ has named us, and we are his. He will not kick us out of the house for throwing a tantrum, knocking over a vase, lighting the kitchen on fire, you name it. We're God's kids. His love is perfect.
We can't go on trying to make ourselves good enough, or trying to feel bad enough about our sin for a certain amount of time before we allow ourselves to surrender it to God. He's already taken that crap. His sacrifice was good enough; he paid the price. We can't keep trying to climb up on the cross and take back the guilt and shame that is no longer ours. He IS our righteousness. That literally means our righteousness is not our own. Anything good we do is because of Jesus. We can let go of the guilt. The trying. The road of Pleasing God. How about the road of Trusting God? Trusting that his sacrifice was indeed worth it.
Such a simple concept. I mean, it's the basis of what we believe, right? Why is it so hard to accept, in our heart of hearts?
I gotta change all these "we"s to "I"s.
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