The Journey

(- written by Bri)
I can only barely taste the journey Christ took to die for all the human race of Adam. I can only begin to taste a speck, a drop, of the anxiety, the anticipation, the sorrow, the depths of unanswered darkness. I  only wish to be His servant. He is holding my hand, and taking me into the darkness that He already conquered. Sometimes, I forget in this battle, by His cross and in Colossians, He has declared peace by His blood. Peace. God's blood,-- the death cure-- peace.
Jesus so easily- in love -leads me back to His victory, not His defeat--- His battle entirely won! It is Finished!!! He never needs to go to the cross again. The victory only He claims. The victory He had to overcome for  your sin, for my sin. The gates of Hades that He broke down with His bare, exposed Spirit, experiencing the death of human beings, triumphing over sin, the devil, and darkness.

I can almost hear Him shouting at the gates of Hades in 1 Peter 3:18-22. Of course, I wasn't there, but I can almost hear the King as the Orthodox church chants; Jesus standing at the door and knocking. Maybe, wait, pounding, I'm not sure....
"Who is this?" "This is Jesus, the King of Glory, The God of Heaven and Earth, The Only God, The Alpha and Omega- Let me in..." At this point and mystery Jesus entered darkness and went unto the disobedient in the days of Noah. He treaded there, in the deepest parts of darkness....The light of the World." That is one account in History we can't even fathom or begin to understand.... But we know the Servant who entered there. We know who He is. We know He is love and just and holy. Any attribute of His flows from His being- love.

But, I still feel like I'm in the garden. I haven't held you yet. I haven't been led safely to you yet.. I anticipate the journey, the treacherous, long flight that I don't want to take, but I'll do it for you. A part of the world that is unsafe for me, but I'll go there for you. The culture that doesn't understand my Jesus, but I will show Him to them and to you...

As Jesus sweat drops of blood, anxious, I daresay a healthy dose of fear. Not a sinful fear, but a fear of the pain. The known nails piercing his skin. The critics. The isolation. The friends who walked away. The mocking. The lies. The murder. The torture. The death....

He did this for the world. He did this to show us that His love will not stop. It won't stop. God came fully in Jesus, the scriptures say so, so the perfect theology of God is Christ. Christ is the fullness of God! Christ dined with sinners, He healed the sick and oppressed, He opposed the religious leaders who thought God's law went above loving your neighbor as yourself or healing a man on the sabbath. These religious elite were His enemies.

God came to rescue the world, so we are taking one brave step and rescuing you. Only with Jesus by our side. Only with the One who broke down the gates of hell and of death. Only with the One who is victorious over sin and every kind of evil. Only with the One who loves and shows mercy to the humble. Only with the One whose kindness and grace leads us to even repent and turn the other way.

I don't know how the story ends, But I know who walks through the fire. I know who walks through the darkness. I know who stormed the gates of Hades and dismantled the devil. I know the One who is the light of the World, the only hope for you and I.

We love you dear child or children.   We are walking this journey by faith, though we are blind and cannot see, One is leading us step by step...