| The Grapevine Not Even a Scar by Jack Northart This coming June marks the first anniversary of a surgery that I had to remove part of my colon. This procedure was done by what is called laporoscopic surgery and it was performed by one of the pioneers of this type of operation, Dr. Michael Finoglio in Denver. Needless to say, the patient is doing very well. The benefits of this method of surgery are numerous, but one of the biggest is that instead of a 18 inch incision down the center of the chest, there are only a few, small incisions where the part in question needed to be removed. Medical science has made great strides to eliminate "invasive" techniques that were once thought to be vital to success. I remember, as a child, my mother had several different abdominal surgeries, and when she showed me her scars, her stomach looked like a roadmap of Colorado. Today, surgeons and specialists have changed all that in that surface scars are, in many cases, minimal and in some cases, virtually eliminated. Healing is actually accelerated in the process too. God has gone well beyond this stage of human technology and understanding by what He brought to pass in the complete sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. 2Corithians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. What a privilege! What a complete work! Colossians 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. It should read, … and ye are completely completely absolutely complete in him. That's pretty darn complete, wouldn't you say? Not too much lacking in life if you are complete. Jesus Christ was the complete Savior, the complete redeemer. He accomplished which no one before or since could do. He had to meet the demands of God's justice on legal grounds, giving us perfect justification in the sight of God. He had to taste death for every man so that every man has a legal right to sonship with God. God sent His only begotten Son, who came to earth and paid the penalty of man's guilt without asking man to have any part in the awful transaction. God staked it all on Jesus Christ. If God could save one human being who rejects Jesus Christ as a personal savior, then God could save the whole human race because there would be no difference. If anyone could be saved apart from Christ, then God sending His only begotten Son to become sin for us is the most colossal crime ever committed in the universe. But because of what God did, every man who rejects Jesus must legally be condemned in the courtroom of God, regardless of God's feelings (John 5:29). And every man who accepts Jesus must legally go to heaven. The new birth gives eternal life to a man and the promise of being in the gathering together at the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not enough to take him as your savior; you must recognize his lordship over your life. Many people would like to have Jesus as a savior, but they do not want him as their lord. They do not want him as their ruler in their lives here upon earth. Look at Romans. Romans 10:9,10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. The resurrection is the cornerstone of Christianity and the new birth is the heart. (I Peter 1:23) If the new birth is not supernatural, Christianity is just one of the religions of the world. If the new birth is supernatural, Christianity is a family and not a religion. The household of God is uniquely wonderful in that God takes humanity into partnership with Himself and allows us to give birth to His joy. The household of God is a very choice name. Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God. We can now talk to God, heart-to-heart, all the time, for the Father Himself loves us. As long as we are loved and as long as we can love, there is a reason for being in the world. We are as near to the heart of God as Jesus is. Believers are members of the heavenly aristocracy. God is not secretary-treasurer of a charitable organization where we go when we have used our last resource. We need to walk in fellowship with God through the spirit of Christ in us. As a Christian, God's Word says that we are sanctified, set apart. As we renew our minds to that truth, we exemplify that sanctification in manifestation. But it is up to our freedom of will to accept what God has done for us, in order to see this wonderful new life. Folks, God did not do a slip-shod job through what He wrought in Christ in us. It is a complete work. Perfect. Nothing lacking. And after all that, there isn't even a scar left behind! |
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