And It Came to Pass

Read |Isaiah 61; Ephesians 1: 3-13|

There is always a measure of time between the utterance of the word and the manifestation of the promise. A pregnant pause. A space between the start of a thing, its maturation in secret places, and its presentation for all to see. Over 2000 years ago God made an announcement. He made an announcement that stirred the hearts of the poor, brokenhearted and captive. He made an announcement that awakened expectation of the coming of the One Anointed to raise us to life. He promised Jesus.  And with the yes of a virgin, heaven made its way to earth. 

The rain of the word of the Lord had gone forth and given the earth a foretaste of what was to come. Great expectation was born, and just at the right time--from eternity, through the womb of a virgin--Jesus came. In the fullness of time, it came to pass."The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14, CSB). 

The Word came on assignment: to bring good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted and to proclaim liberty to the prisoners. (Isaiah 61:1, CSB).  He came "so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16, CSB). He came, lived, suffered and died, so that as holy God, He would be able to embrace us (in spite our failings) in love. He came and completed the assignment. And on the third day, the Father raised him to life again, to say it was completed--completed perfectly. 

This is shouting news! It is good news because it means that the healing we long for--the effervescent and free life we crave--is possible. It is possible, not on account of our perfection, our good works or any effort on our part. It
is possible because Jesus finished the work. It was His work to bring us, who would believe, to life and life more abundantly (John 10:10). Our Father pleads with us from eternity, to taste and see that the Lord is good. He pleads with us to take hold of what has first taken hold of us. He pleads with us to walk, by faith, in the riches that are ALREADY ours in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 1: 3-13).








God has taken hold of you, will you take hold of Him? He awaits your return of His embrace. The blessing is in the embrace, where our hearts and wills become lost in His, and we breathe in His sweet salvation.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for Jesus. We pray that we will take Him at His word, when He says that it is finished! Father, please help us to accept all that you have accomplished on our behalf, in Jesus. Father we welcome your presence, life and healing into our hearts. Help us to live from the victory of the cross and to come taste and see that you are good. In Jesus' name, amen.

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