Well, we heard a sermon by one of my heroes of the faith, CJ Mahaney. His topic was the Gospel and I just wanted to write my impressions based off his sermon.
We were once enemies of God. Slaves to sin and damned to Hell. But we undermine what that really means. What does a slave really look like? Think of the poorest, high crime, and cruel nation you can imagine. Then imagine being a slave in that country. Not a citizen, a slave. But you were the slave, and you loved it. You were the most vile creation to ever exist. Stop. That's to hard for us to imagine. All our thoughts can't come close to that reality. Here's something that helped me.
How many of you have seen/read Lord of the Rings? Take two different creations: Elves and Orcs. Do you know the history behind the orcs (what I'm about to tell you is true, it came out of another book by JRR Tolkien that talks about the beginning of all his creations). The orcs used to be elves. But these Elves were taken by the original Dark Lord (not Sauron, this was before even his time), and were beaten and mutilated. Cut off from the sun and told lies about all good things. This is why the orcs hate the elves. They see the elves and are reminded of who they once were. So stop and think about how an elf looks and then how an orc looks.
That's how we looked as slaves. We sinned and our lives were forever ruined. So there we are, slaves with no hope. But there is a wonderfully kind, generous, and merciful emperor who lives in a realm of glory and light. Because He loves you, He sends his equally wonderfully kind, generous, and merciful Son into this country of hell to rescue us, the slaves to sin. But did we rejoice to see him come to set us free. NO! We hated the sight of his glory and majesty. We mocked and rebuked Him. But we didn't know his true plan. To ransom us from the "Dark One", He allowed himself the be killed by those He came to save, us! He died so that we might live.
But the story doesn't end there. He rose again! He conquered the power of the "Dark One" and defeated the power of death. So now we are redeemed from our bondage. But that's not it. The Emperor adopts us as His children. And we get to enjoy that kingdom of joy and light. To bask forever in the glory of HIS splendor! We are like orcs that have been spared from death, cleansed and now get to live as equals with the elves. But our story is even more amazing. Jesus not only took our wrath upon himself, but he has given us His glory to share with Him for eternity! Praise be to God forever and ever, AMEN!
p.s.
hoped my illustration helped.
