March 18, 2011

“He was beaten, he was tortured, but he didn’t say a word. Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered and like a sheep being sheared, he took it all in silence.” Isaiah 53:7 The Message

He stayed silent .. for you ..?

Beaten — tortured — slaughtered — silence. If this happened to anyone in your family .. silence would not be in your lexicon. And yet it happens everyday  somewhere… everyday that a man or woman realize  that His silence makes them “perfect”  .. forever. 700 years before He was beaten and tortured .. God was writing on imperfect hearts .. just like yours .. that there was a Lamb coming whose life would be a perfect sacrifice. It took a Perfect Person to perfect all the imperfections of your life.  Perfect people don’t last long in this world .. but He has for 2000 years. And so that you wouldn’t forget: God wrote it on the “lining of your heart”. Christ changes everything about you. His life brings a new heart .. new mind .. new strength .. and a new deep capacity soul. And all that stuff that defines your life? Jesus “took it all in silence.” All He had to say was ‘No more”. All He could say was ‘One More’. As one  graced saint puts it: “Everything breaks against the absolute reality of Jesus Christ”. Everything in your life that would exclude you from living freely whole and absolutely accepted through Christ has been perfectly paid for. You still see some imperfections …? That’s not what God sees. He sees every one of your imperfections being beaten and tortured in the Silent Son. And you’ve been placed right in the center of  imperfect people who try to hide all the imperfections. And more importantly for this day … in Christ .. you’ve been made perfect .. perfectly loved .. perfectly accepted .. and perfectly reconciled to God through the One who became all of your imperfections. You don’t have to be silent anymore. It only takes a moment …

“It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process. The Holy Spirit confirms this: This new plan I’m making with Israel isn’t going to be written on paper, isn’t going to be chiseled in stone; This time “I’m writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts.” Hebrews 10:14-17 The Message

Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Imperfectly Perfected People following the Perfecting One named Jesus and friends of Priority One (ken@priorityone.org)