"Give Me Back My Stuff!"

     A little over a week ago, I wrote a post entitled, Have You Given Jesus What He Died For? I'd like to expound on that more, if I may. I talked about how when Jesus went to the Cross, He paid every legal requirement for us to be reconciled back to the Father. The devil has no claim on us ... unless we listen to his lies. And that's what I want to expand upon. I will also tell you that I give full credit to Graham Cooke, a Christian speaker/author for the title and the inspiration behind this post.
     Mark introduced me to a podcast by Graham in which he shared a dream [or vision] he had of a conversation with Christ. It went something like this ...

CHRIST: Give Me back My stuff!
GRAHAM: What, Lord? I don't understand.
CHRIST: I said, Give Me back My stuff!
GRAHAM: But what stuff, Lord?
CHRIST: Graham, give Me back My STUFF!
GRAHAM: I heard you, Lord, but I still don't understand what you're talking about.
CHRIST: GIVE ME BACK MY STUFF, NOW!
GRAHAM: Please, Lord, tell me what stuff! What do I need to give back?
CHRIST: It belongs to Me. I paid for it and it's Mine! It belongs to Me, and not to you!

     This conversation goes on for quite awhile, with the Lord revealing that every time Graham [or we] give in to Worry, or Fear, or Anger, or any other anti-Christ spirit, we are resurrecting what He took to the Cross and defeated, along with Death. Christ explained that it wasn't just Sin that He took to the Cross, but all the negative ways that we see or think or believe or speak.
     Jesus told Graham, "[When I went to the Cross] I went for the joy set before Me because I knew I was robbing you of experiencing all those negative things, and I was giving you a life totally different and free of all that stuff. You see, it doesn't belong to you anymore! I died for it! And every time you hang on to any of it, you can't become the person I died for you to become. There is a disconnect between you and Heaven. You can't receive what I want to give you. And I have things to give you, and we have things to do!"
     Does that resonate with anybody else besides me? It's so simple, yet we fall for Satan's lies about why we should hang on to our stuff. But Jesus doesn't want us to deal with all that negativity because He's already dealt with it! Furthermore, He doesn't want to continue to deal with all that sin because it was dealt with once for all at the Cross. Right now, right here today, He only wants to deal with our righteousness. He only wants to establish righteousness and holiness with us, because the sin has been paid for.
     This is such a basic truth of both the Gospel of Salvation and the Gospel of the Kingdom. The reason we are citizens of Heaven here on earth is because we are learning how to walk [and move] in the opposite spirit of the world. We are not subject to the "small s" spirits of this world (Worry, Anger, Fear, etc) -- we are subjects to the "capital S" Spirit of Heaven! Instead of shame, Jesus wants us to know we can have a double portion of Self-worth. Instead of humiliation, we will experience a shout of joy.
     We've got to learn how to quit defaulting to the "old man", and learn how to live in our new and true identity. That old behavior was defeated by Jesus's blood, and we can now possess accelerated grace, goodness, and power as sons and daughters of the King, and Heavenly citizens. It's time we take note of all that we've stolen back from our Lord. It's time to give it all back to Him. Give Him back the worry, and receive His gift of confidence. Give Him back the spirit of Anger, and receive the gift of peace and patience. Give Him back all the loneliness, and receive the Spirit of adoption as a beloved son or daughter. Whatever it is that robs you of all the good gifts He wants to give you ... give Him back His stuff. 
     I keep harping on this theme because it is the overriding issue that we see time and again when Jesus meets His beloved at the table. People take back from Jesus what His death has paid for, and it robs them from becoming all that they can be; and it robs Jesus of the joy of His sacrifice for us. Let us forever rid ourselves of the old nature, which belongs to Jesus, because He paid dearly for it. And let us put on our new garments of salvation and our robes of righteousness. Those belong to us!

1 Peter 2:24    "He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross [willingly offering Himself on it, as on an altar of sacrifice], so that we might die to sin [becoming immune from the penalty and power of sin] and live for righteousness; for by His wounds you [who believe] have been healed."
 

How Do We View God's Justice and Righteousness In The 21st Century?

     The concept of Justice and Righteousness can be a confusing issue among both Christians and non-Christians alike. For starters, among the various translations, the two terms "justice" and "righteousness" are often interchangeable. So, at times God's justice is His righteousness, as in the ESV version of Psalm 106:3, which says, "Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!". The structure of the sentence seems to indicate that the two clauses are similar in meaning. Yet the King James translation of that same verse indicates two separate and independent clauses: "Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times."
     Again, we see a confusion of terms in Deuteronomy 32:4, which says, "The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he." Yet that same verse, in the King James version reads, "He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." Is God's justice to be understood as His righteousness, or is it His judgment? No wonder we, in the 21st Century, have a hard time understanding the true nature and character of our God!

     In a very real sense, I believe we have lost our awareness and our perception -- our consciousness -- of what a Just God looks like. We have decided that we like the picture of a loving and kind God better than that of a God who judges and condemns people to destruction. In fact, many have decided to drive a wedge between the Old and New Testaments, saying that Jesus brought Grace and Mercy and Compassion, and there is no room for Old Testament justice as judgment in the New Covenant.
     But, because we know that the God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New, and that one of His characteristics is that He never changes (James 1:17), nor can Scripture be undone, annulled, or broken (John 10:35); we can confidently declare that His justice is both righteousness and judgment, as He determines.
     One of the hardest accusations against God to answer is why would He command the complete destruction of Canaanite peoples down to every last man, woman, and child? We are asked, "If your God is such a loving God, where is the justice and compassion in that?" What we need to be able to explain is that Israel had a unique calling as God's chosen covenant people. Their assignment was to prepare the way for a pure and just Messiah. That's why God was so careful in establishing purity laws; they pointed the way to the holiness demanded by God to bring the Messiah into the world.
     Jesus Christ must be born through an uncorrupted and pure bloodline. The inhabitants of the Canaanite nations that the Israelites were commanded to destroy were the descendants of fallen angels mating with human women; obviously an unholy bloodline. There could be no intermingling of DNA. God intended for His chosen people to remain pure so Jesus could be born into humanity; while Satan was determined to pollute the gene pool so that our Lord's birth would be denied.
     Furthermore, our just and righteous God instituted sacrificial laws to point the way to the Atonement that Jesus would bring. And the total destruction of the Canaanite societies was both a physical and spiritual war that pointed to God's just judgment against sins such as child sacrifice and cult prostitution. Old Testament scholar Tremper Longman summarizes these points of God's justice and righteousness like this: We must point out that the Bible does not understand the destruction of the men, women, and children of these cities as a slaughter of innocents. Not even the children are considered innocent. They are all part of an inherently wicked culture that, if allowed to live, would morally and theologically pollute the people of Israel.  I would add, spiritually and physically to that list, as well.
     That's a pretty simple example of God's justice and righteousness in the Old Testament. But how are we to look at it in the New Testament, and from a modern perspective? At the Cross, Jesus exemplified and experienced the full measure of God's wrath against sin. And because of His sacrifice, we can be forgiven of our sin, and stand in God's favor by faith alone.
     But the war is not over! God's enemies will not be completely defeated until Jesus returns to establish everlasting justice on the earth. Until then, we are still called to do battle for God; only now it is a spiritual battle against "the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." We are not called to fight and destroy flesh and blood humans today, but to tear down and destroy strongholds and principalities in the spiritual realms!
     But have we stripped our God of His nature of Justice, which includes His administration of a heavenly government on the earth? Do we now interpret everything in the human sphere through Grace or Hyper-Grace instead of a righteous and just governmental lens? I'm not sure that the majority of Christians believe in Justice today. Could it be that we have reduced God to the characteristics that make us feel comfortable; creating a God that fits our image of what He should be -- loving, kind, gentle, merciful, gracious, compassionate, warm, sensitive ... and oh, yes, let's not forget tolerant. 
     Have we forgotten that at the beginning of His ministry, He proclaimed that the Kingdom of Heaven had arrived? Have we ignored the fact that a kingdom is under the legal jurisdiction of its King? Have we read the back of The Book which tells us that He comes to rule and reign; and to divide and conquer; that He is Lord, King and Judge? All that speaks of justice in terms that we don't like to apply to Him ... vengeance is His, and He will repay. 
     It is important to acknowledge that YHWH has not changed. He is the same God in 2019 that He was at the creation of this world. Even in the midst of his righteous judgment, He can be seen as merciful and loving. Through the destruction of the Canaanites, God mercifully protected the Israelites from idolatry and maintained His plan for Jesus to be born pure and holy. God was merciful and righteous in His justice to provide a way for a Canaanite woman (the prostitute Rahab) to repent and join the geneology of Jesus. A righteous and holy God would not be true to Himself if He tolerated sin. He must uphold His holiness. But we can be assured that wrath is not His heart. Because He will not tolerate sin, it shows His righteous mercy for those He loves. David Matthews, Executive Director of desiringGod.org writes, "Severity in God always serves His heart of mercy — to make known the riches of His glory to His people, who are the vessels of His mercy." 
     So, let us endeavor to remember that Jesus reclaimed the earth for the Kingdom of God. Nothing has changed with that profound reality.  We need both His justice in the form of His righteousness and love; but when necessary, we need His judgment, too. It all serves to mold us into the very image of Him, and to see the completion of the restoration of His kingdom on earth.

Proverbs 28:5    Evil men do not understand justice, but they who long for and seek the Lord understand it fully.