IT IS FINISHED!!

Today, is the day before Easter. This is the most beautiful holiday of all creation. This holiday is about celebrating the fact that the God of all creation stepped out of Heaven, presented Himself in human form, led a perfect life, and hung Himself on a cross for the sins of the whole, wide, World.

You may be thinking that this is old news, but if you really, truly, think about the meaning of Easter and Good Friday, (which was yesterday), the meaning honestly will blow.you.away. Last night our church, Passion City church, had a Good Friday service at Verizon Ampitheatre. Louie Giglio described the true meaning of why we celebrate, so let me briefly describe it:

Jesus was Jewish. Every year the Jewish people celebrate what is called the Passover which is the remembrance of when the Lord sent the Angel of Death to the people who did not have the blood of innocent animals on their house doors. Those people who had the blood of animals on their doors, were the people in which Moses led out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. They were "passed over."
Every year since, on the day of celebrated Passover, the rulers released one prisoner and crucified him. On the night before Jesus was crucified, he lead his closest friends, or Disciples, into the Upper Room for the Passover dinner. They all had celebrated Passover together before, but what Jesus was about to say was different than they had ever heard before: "This is my body, this is my blood which is broken and poured out for you." In other words, Jesus was saying "this is the great exchange -- my body which will be sacrificed for your eternal life." That is the history.

God sent His only Son to die on the Cross of Golgotha because he so loved the world. Love came down in Bethlehem. Love preached the Good News for three years. Justice died to save the world. Justice exchanged His life for the people of the whole world. It's not just what "the Americans believe." Jesus was Middle-Eastern. He died for the whole world -- every race, both genders, every belief, every sin. This is the theology.

You see, history tells us what time it is. Theology tells us what God we serve, and what our God is like.

Love came down -- history. Justice died -- theology. God is both love and justice.

These thoughts are not my own; they were spoken by Louie Giglio; I am simply just passing the message forward.

For my thoughts:
Until last night I had not been treating the remembrance of Christ the way I should have been. I was doing everything imaginable to distance myself from God. I felt like that no matter how hard I tried, I could not be pulled closer to God like I had once been before. I felt as though I had been worlds away from Jesus and could not come back.
Louie Giglio said this last night:

There are two paths: the "do" path, and the "done" path. The "do" path is all about doing right. The "do" path is about what I can do to get back to God; what I can do to earn the righteousness from God. Moses wrote ten simple things to follow; but not one person has been able to do them all. the problem with the "do" path is that it cannot be perfected because our hearts are sick. Sick hearts cannot be perfect. Amen?
The "done" path is the one Jesus has created for us. Love came down, Justice died and made a way for us through the "done" path. You see when Jesus was crucified and had been hanging there for six, unbearable, hours with His last dying breath He said: "It is finished." The price was paid.
No matter what you do, I do, we are sanctified by His grace. Because it was finished on that morning at 9am, we are forever with God. We are forever forgiven, forever loved, forever restored. Our sick hearts do not have to beat so hard, or work so hard to be perfect because it. Has. Already. Been. Done. Jesus did it! Praise God!

I needed to be reminded of that, didn't you?

Happy Easter!! Praise God in the Highest. Hallelujah!