Day of Praise

Thur, 06/29/17, "Day of Praise"

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit." - 1 Peter 3:18

When I was a teenager, I slept in a basement room with no windows. Cool. 

When I was a little kid, if I'd had a basement room with no windows, that would not have been cool. I was a scaredy-cat. 

I thought everything that was down low and dark had a monster or a big bad wolf living in it. 

Apparently, that kind of thinking is not too far off. After all, Jesus went into a place that was down low and dark and had the worst monster ever living in it. 

And Jesus went down into that low and dark place for me. And for you. And for all people. (Although tragically, not everyone believes in that place nor believes that Jesus went down there and took care of that big bully monster for us.)

Actually, the big bully monster has a legitimate claim, just as the White Witch does in the Chronicles of Narnia. When we sin, when we rebel against the way that God made things to work, then we have to appear before The Accuser, The Big Bully, and we have to pay the penalty. And you get what you deserve. 

Hmmmm. What's that sound like to you? You must 1) appear before an Accuser, 2) pay a penalty, and 3) get what you deserve. 

Sounds like hell to me. A living hell.

But through the cross and resurrection of Jesus, we celebrate that Jesus 1) took our place, 2) paid our penalty, and 3) taught us about mercy (not getting what you deserve) and grace (getting what you don't deserve).

All this Jesus did when he went into a place that was down low and dark and had the worst monster ever living in it. 

And he did it all for you!

And for me! 

And for us all as God's dearly beloved children, who, if we have any sense about us, might still not want to go to the place that is down low and dark and has the worst monster ever living in it. 

But as we hear in 1 Corinthians 15:57, "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

So thanks be to God for the truth of today's verse, "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit." - 1 Peter 3:18

Praise God!!!