Blessing - Pt 3

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4 ESV).

The sun has begun to shine after the first really cold front of the year in our area. Winter has begun in North Texas. This picture, taken just blocks from where we live, is a good example of the first few days of winter. Now, that only means that we’ll have some cold days with rain, maybe some snow or ice, and the leaves on the trees will have dropped to begin the winter cycle. It does look dreary, almost sad, as the backdrop of winter invades our area. Our lives can feel like that sometimes. In fact, circumstances at certain periods in our lives can cause us to ask how is it that God can be so good to us? For that answer we simply must understand the basis on which God can bless us so generously. Just like the drab winter in Texas promises a vibrant spring filled with wildflowers and vast landscapes of new growth, so we can anticipate being showered with God’s blessing because Jesus experienced the full measure of God’s curse in our place. Christ was given what we deserve so that we might be given what Christ deserves. This is the too-good-to-be-trueness of the gospel. We can be sure that the Lord will keep and protect us because Christ was not protected. We can revel in having the Lord’s face turned toward us only because he turned his face away from his own Son as he hung on the cross. We can be sure that the Lord will lift up his countenance upon us only because when he looks at us, he sees us robed in the righteousness of Christ. He is able to grant us his peace only because his anger was exhausted on another. To be blessed is to be joined to Christ so securely that we have an ever-increasing sense that we are being kept by and for God. Because we are recipients of lavish grace, we can be honest with God and other people about our sin. Because the Lord is giving us peace, we can face the future confident that there is therefore now no condemnation for us because we are in Christ Jesus (v. 1). We can shout it for the world to hear, post it for the social media world to read, and nail it to every wall in our home: we are truly, deeply, eternally blessed in Christ. That is worth celebrating at any time of the year, and especially now.