"But can you clean you face with the same mirror that shows how dirty you are? There is no mercy or grace in rules, not even for one mistake. That's why Jesus fulfilled all of it for you - so that it no longer has jurisdiction over you. And the Law that once contained impossible demands - Thou Shall Not...- actually becomes a promise we fulfill in you." (p. 202)
Help me out here please...what is Sarayu saying?
Sunday, January 25, 2009
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I think it means that the minute we accept Jesus Christ as our personal saviour, the Holy Spirit (Sarayu) comes to live within us, teaching us, changing us, filling us with the most incredible peace and joy. Before Jesus, the Jews had to sacrifice an animal and use it to "pay" for their sins, and they lived under the Law of Moses, an impossible set of rules to live by. The slaughtered animanl was their atonement and that sacrifice set them in good standing again. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, became the end all, be all sacrifice for us. Through His incredible act of LOVE, we are set free from sin, the Law, and now have a pathway to God that we cannot buy or earn. IT IS FREE and it is only BECAUSE GOD LOVES US!! Mickey (I found you on the forum (the Shack).
Let me add that I think the mirror is "the Law of Moses". No one could ever live up to is so we are "dirty". How can we look in that same mirror (the impossible Law) and make ourselves clean (sinless). No we can't. That LAW was replaced by Jesus Sacrifice (the promise) our acceptance of Jesus as Savior allows the Holy Spirit to enter our life as an active force of God (the promise fulfilled). And we are made clean by that sacrificial love, not some impossible law. Isn't it amazing to know that God could even love us like that?!?!!
Hi, just stumbled in from the form and thought I'd share my thoughts concerning your question. I think basically what she's saying is, looking to the law and commandments as a mirror will always tell us our face is dirty. Why would we use that OLD Mirror of Law to judge our faces when God has given us a NEW Mirror of Grace through Christ, that tells us our faces are always clean? Through Christ, God has perfectly washed our faces clean forever. Simply put, too many people that love God have missed the point of His perfect Mirror of Grace in Christ and instead have continued to picked up the OLD Mirror of the Law, trying to decide how well they are doing with Him based on how clean or "dirty" their face appears. Doing this will never allow us to feel worthy or embraced by God fully, like He desires for us, because the OLD law mirror will only show us what's imperfect in our flesh, never what's perfect in our spirits. Again, if we look to the Law Mirror our faces will always appear dirty but if we look to the Grace Mirror they will always appear clean. I believe God's main purpose for the Law Mirror was to get mankind's attention to the fact that we are all born with dirty faces, which none of us really like once we have taken a good look. I don't believe God created the law to make us feel ashamed and hopeless about our dirty face but instead He is using it to draw us near to Him by the God Given Desires we all have truly wanting a clean face. Since Christ, God isn't judging us based on how we think we look in the old law mirror anymore, no one except Christ would have a clean face anyway. God truly desires us to stop looking to the law mirror and instead renew our minds to the fact that, if you have received Christ, your face has been permanently cleaned and you can draw near to God in confidence. If you want to look into a mirror make sure it's the Mirror of Grace and throw your old law mirror away, you don't need it any longer, it's broken.
In Christ, there are no dirty faces! Rom 8:1 I guess it's obvious that I like analogies... James
I guess Michelle and James have said all...
when I first read this part on my reading of The Shack it almost knocked me out...
I had always felt so terrible guilty because I had never been able to follow completely the laws and traditions of my church...
I couldn't feel free or safe because there were so many things I must have done but I didn't, and so many other I shouldn't have done, but I actually did...
All those things I always made me feel so weak... and ashamed because I thought I did not deserve God's blesses, I would never be good enough...
The difference now is although I'm sure I DO NOT deserve all the good things God has given me, I do know why He keeps giving them to me, such a terrible child of Him:
1st, because He loves me no matter what...
2nd, because Jesus, the Real Deserving One, the only one capable of following ALL the laws, He did it for me...
Jesus lived his perfect and sinless life and after gave it for us as the perfect sacrifice...
This magnificant gesture "cleaned" us all of the obligation of it...
I'm sure I don't deserve God's blesses now more than I did before reading the book... but I do know now that I don't have to "deserve" them because I'll always be imperfct and full of flaws...
However, I understood I just need o accept God's Grace and let it sink in my life...
I don't need to worry about comparing myself either with other people or with a list of rules and obligations...
what I must do is understand God's purposes in my life and have the streght to let it become true...
entering in a real relationship with Papa, Jesus and Sarayu!
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