Wednesday, February 27, 2019

A Broken Spirit

Psalm 51: 17

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.

II Peter 3: 9

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsufferng to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Our broken spirit, our contrite heart, is our coming to repentance, realizing that we deserve death. 

Colossians 1: 19-20

For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fulness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the Blood of His Cross; through Him, I say, whether things on Earth or in Heaven.

So the Father's good pleasure is to give all the fulness of being God as well as being fully Man to His Son, so that His Blood, shed on Calvary, would make peace between sinful Man and a holy God. His precious Blood, the Blood of God, has unlimited power and worth to pay the full price for human sinfulness and cleanse us totally pristine, as though we'd never sinned at all, perfect, fit to live with God in His perfect Heaven. 

God saves us one by one, so the first sacrifice God wanted the Levites to teach the people, in the first chapter of Leviticus, is the personal sacrifice. When Jesus died, He was the Lamb of God, dying for each one of us individually, fulfilling that personal sacrifice for Salvation.

So when the Father draws someone to understand that Jesus took his place in death, because He didn't deserve it but he did; then the Blood of Christ washes him as white as snow, and God sends His Holy Spirit to take up residence in his spirit, making it alive. In that sense, that person is "born again," and now has spiritual life, as well as his human life. So every time God saves someone it's a miracle.

And when His Blood was poured out at the foot of the Cross when the Centurian pierced His side, He fulfilled the sacrifice for the whole congregation, laid out in Leviticus 4: 13-21. This Corporate Sacrifice He gave to purchase not just one congregation, but the whole Universe, which makes Him its rightful Judge. So if you consider yourself one of many He died for, then you are still under judgment. 

O my Father, I pray for all those who think they are Yours, but have never come to that repentance that leads to Salvation. I pray that You would show Yourself and Your ways to them in Your Love, and draw them to Yourself. Then they will willingly praise Your holy Name, and give You the glory and honor You deserve. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!