Friday, October 16, 2009

The Church=The Bride of Christ

This week Zion Church is learning about God's image of the Church as the Bride of Christ. In Revelation we read about the Bride of the Lamb having been made ready/prepared for her husband (19:7; 21:2). That's what our temporary life on this temporary Earth is for. Everything we go through is for our learning and edification (i.e., building up). As Christians we are learning how to live rightly before God, so that when Christ returns and we are presented to Him as His Bride, we will be pure, beautiful, and ready.
I was thinking about our wedding day, and how my bride was an example of this. We kind of rushed through the wedding preparations, as many young people right out of college do, because I am the strong-willed one and a couple months seemed like plenty of time to me. (I'm still learning, but I know my error.) The amazing thing is that as much as I drove Angie crazy in those days, when she walked down the aisle to become Angelina Dunkerton, I had never seen her more confident. She was ready. Neither of us knew what would be coming in the early months of our marriage, but that day--even with all the crazy, unexpected things that happened that day--she was ready!
This life seems so crazy and we keep making mistakes, but when we are presented before the Lamb as His Bride, we will be ready, because He has made us clean!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

The Cross Is Everything!

I know that most of the people who read my blog already know this, but I feel compelled to proclaim the Gospel here, and maybe others will read this, too. Also, I want to bring up some points you might not have thought about before.
Today I was reading Galatians 2 for my devotions, where Paul challenges some of the Jewish believers for acting like the law justified them before God. They knew that salvation only comes through Christ by his work on the Cross, so by adding anything to that they were cheapening the truth.
Christ died once for sin, and he was buried, and on the third day he rose from the dead, having satisfied the Father that sin was paid for. Anyone who trusts him for salvation is forgiven of sin and no longer destined for hell.
I need to proclaim the truth, and I am going to offend some people right now (whether anything of them will read this I don't know). The Jews who rejected the gospel believed that keeping the law justified them before God, so Christ's death on the Cross was pointless. Muslims believe that Jesus was only a prophet. Catholics believe that Jesus is sacrificed again every time they take communion. The LDS (Mormons) believe that the atonement happened in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus sweat drops of blood, making his death on the Cross not that important. Any belief that says salvation comes any other way except through the Cross is wrong!