More Back to the Basics

Luke 10:42 (NLT)
There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

As discussed in the previous post, mastering the basics when it comes to our spiritual growth is as important as mastering the basics is for all championship teams in sports. They all have one thing in common – they have succeeded because they did not forget what they learned early on in their training. As believers, we too, must always remember what we learned when we first started walking with the Lord. The basics are where we got our start; they are the foundation upon which everything else is built. Our progress in our walk with the Lord will ultimately be slowed if we forget the basics. Let’s look at three more “basics” that will always strengthen us when we focus on them – the Cross, the Resurrection and the Ascension.

The Cross:
Colossians 1:19-20 (CJB)
¹⁹ For it pleased God to have his full being live in his Son ²⁰ and through his Son to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through him, through having his Son shed his blood by being executed on a stake {Cross}. This verse gives a complete picture of what Jesus did on the Cross. His death destroyed the power of sin which had entered in to mankind in the Garden of Eden. As a result of the Cross, the sin that had separated man from God was gone and peace, the ability for man to come into God’s presence freely, was restored. When Jesus cried out, “Finished” it was the exclamation point to what had occurred.  There is no longer a sin problem in the world, only a sinner problem – with those who have not received yet what Jesus did on the Cross.

The Resurrection:
1 Peter 1:3-4 (MSG)
^3-4 What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! Jesus could have just forgiven us of our sins. But He did not stop there. He went to hell and defeated the forces of hell.  Not only were we forgiven of our sins, but the source of our sin nature – the devil and the kingdom of hell – were defeated for all time. While the devil will attempt to challenge us through sickness, tragedy, lack, and sin-consciousness (a feeling the we aren’t good enough to receive God’s Blessing in our lives), our response to each attack should be, “NO, Jesus already paid for it all and I don’t receive your lies about the challenges I am facing.”

The Ascension:
Mark 16:19 (NJKV)
¹⁹ So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. This act completed everything that God had provided for in His plan for the redemption of His beloved family. The “right hand” of God always indicates a place of honor and favor, which we now share as joint-heirs with Jesus. When Jesus sat down, He took a position of rest. All He had gone to the earth for was completed. Today, Jesus is still seated – ever making intercession for us on earth. We, too, can live in a place of rest knowing that Jesus has our back.

We would do well to meditate on these three parts of God’s plan of redemption. Each one brought us closer to intimacy with Him, which was God’s heart’s desire since the Fall in the Garden. That “heart’s desire” for intimacy  is the ultimate “basic” we should never lose sight of!

10/21