A Way for Image-bearers (Lent 29, 2023)

Last time in our devotional series, “Created to Display His Image”, we talked about the mercy of God in the context of His holiness. In Christ, God has made a way for Image-bearers to be redeemed displaying love and mercy without sacrificing any of His holiness!

In fact, that’s why He delays His Return. He’s waiting patiently for all who will enter to come in. His Image-bearers will not be lost without having had opportunity to be saved.

Isaiah. 43:16 This is what the LORD says– he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, 17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: 18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

In fact, Jesus’ mindset of submission and obedience to the Father is part of how He displays God’s Very Image. He finished the work God gave Him to do (John 17:4). He followed God’s will to the end, even if He felt in His humanity the significant suffering He was about to undergo and prayed about any other way (Luke 22:40-46). There wasn’t.

Focus for Lent: God went to extreme lengths to rescue His Image-bearers.

Questions for further thought:

Being so far removed from a first century Crucifixion, we have no true sense for how much Jesus (God’s Very Image) suffered and died so that the wrath God has toward sin in us (as His Image-bearers) would be paid in full. Was there any other way for God to save His Image-bearers, even a few of them?

What does that tell you about Adam and Eve’s breach of God’s command and God’s holy wrath against sin? Do we take sin that seriously?

When we read about the path to heaven being narrow and Jesus’ being the Way, how does the no-other-way than the suffering and death of God’s Very Image explain why no other way measures up?

Prayer: Thank You, Father, that You would make a Way for us in the Person of Your Son Jesus Christ. Remind us anew that Your holiness demands perfection, and Jesus’ sacrifice was perfect. We do not understand this kind of love, but we offer our gratitude this day that Jesus did understand this love…and He was faithful as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We magnify Your Holy Name. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.