Once for all

“Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭9:12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Once for all

There is a crowd. They are angry. They have gathered at the local leaders house to demand action to redress the wrongs they feel they have endured. The leader comes out on the front porch. There is much screaming, and chants. One could easily look at this situation, with today’s eyes and think that it was snatched from the headlines.

But look. There is a lone figure standing next to the local official. He has been battered, He has been bruised, He has been rent by “cat o’nine tails and beaten. He is the picture of blood. This Man has endured true brutality. We are not outside the house of a modern day leader, during this modern day season of discontent, but it is events leading up to the Crucifixion, that moment when Jesus paid for the sins of the world. Instead of Black Lives Matter, the chant of the day is Crucify Him!

We are staggered as a nation over the sins that have turned our seemingly quiet world upside down. We have all heard the names, George Floyd, Breona Taylor, and a host of others to numerous to mention. Some of these are people killed by the actions of police officers. There are also police officer names, people slain in service to the citizens of cities throughout the nation. Then there are the others, more names, of many races, many more stories, all murdered. Victims of rage, of fear, of opportunity, and of depravity. Sin has certainly rocked our world. We kill each other with unending brutality, and indifference.

Life has no real value in the world we have created. We fight wars, foreign and domestic, and many people die every day. There is no safety anywhere, not even in the womb. Back on that day, the day the Lord hath made, God sent the ultimate victim, to be the deliverance of us all.

Because we have not dealt with our sin, we have an endless number of innocent lives sacrificed, so many killed, like babies sacrificed to Moloch, the blood runs into the scorching fire of hate and indifference. There is no salvation in these deaths. Sin has festered, none have been forgiven. Sin has indeed become a part of who we are, embedded into the fabric of the nation. There appears to be no hope.

But, Jesus.

In that act of ancient police brutality, Jesus endured. He was born for that moment. He created that moment from the foundation of the world. He created the hands that made the chains that held Him, the whips that whipped Him, the hammer that drove in the nails. He held all of the together, on the molecular level.

“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1:16-17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

There is only one solution to the problems that have so divided us. We must be made of one heart, one Blood, one Body. The Gospel is the answer, the only answer. It is not the message that is desired, but it is the truth. Jesus saves.

In my years I have seen my life transformed, I have seen the transformation of others. Weak made strong, broken made whole, the drunk, made sober, family broken, made complete. There are so many testimonies. So many speak of the death, burial and rebirth of lives made new.

The death of George Floyd will not bring lasting change. There will be an awakening for a time, but in the end, we will lapse back into our old routine and become complacent. Someday on a street somewhere, someone, will die and we will be back there again.

But that needn’t be. The brutality that Jesus endured, was for our salvation. He died that, we might live, that we might have newness of life. Just think if we paid attention to that incident. Just think if we paid attention to what has happened in the aftermath of that act of brutality. We would be living in a different world. If we marched through the streets speaking of the Gospel.

Believers, you are ambassadors of the One who died, that all may live. Take the knee, bow the head and pray for opportunities to share the story of one who died once for all. We chant black lives matter, I speak of one life that truly mattered above all, a death that mattered, a burial that mattered, a resurrection that mattered so much that the life of that Man split time.

I mourn over all that was done to George Floyd that sad, sad day. I also will mourn of all the people who have lost their lives in the incidents that have ensued. I mourn over death. But I do have hope. In my minds eye I can see that bright city, shining on the hill, I can hear the voices. I see a march. I see people clothed in white, all walking in unity. I see great light, from the Father and the Son, and Holy Spirit. There will be so many faces, all bright and filled with joy! There will be a day when the chant will be, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! People from all races, all hues, from all nations, will shout Holy, Holy, Holy and bow down at the throne.

Glory!

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