"Truly Sanctified!"

 "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." (John 17:19 KJV)

  "So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of the created world. With his own blood - not the blood of goats and calves - he entered the Most Holy Place once and for all time and secured our redemption forever." (Hebrews 9:11-12 NLT)

 Interestingly, there is something afoot in this world, something of a strange twist to the normal way of seeing things, as if the deception and twisting of the Scriptures has started to unwind, and there are more and more people that are starting to doubt the fact the Jesus is the only way! It is not that it isn't old news, but that the challenge to the truth is starting to rise up, as if to prepare for something new, some new way to stretch the truth. 

 The thing we must understand is that the devil will do all that he can to make Jesus less important, and the work that was done on the cross more meaningless. If there could have been another way, then Jesus would have not completed the assignment He was given! He begged the Father, "If there is any other way, take this cup from me!" But there was none! 

 In His flesh, Jesus was wanting to forgo the cross and find some other way; but the Spirit of God in Him pressed on, saying, "Not my will, but Thine be done!" To this, I was thinking about the second part of Isaiah 61:2, "the day of vengeance of our God," as it is believed to be a reference to His second coming, when He actually puts His foot upon the earth. 

 There might be a second point to that, something that speaks of the moment when Jesus was weak, but took vengeance upon that weakness of the flesh, to overcome the flesh, as Adam should have done, way back in the Garden of Eden! The only reason I say this, is the end of that verse says, "to comfort all that mourn." All creation mourns over the fall, even still to this day; but there is a work that has been done already, to change that mourning into gladness! 

 Oh, that we might see the power that was demonstrated by what Jesus did, how He overcame the will of the flesh, and put everything He had aside to do the will of the Father...

"He came into the very world he created, but the world didn't recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believe him and accepted him, he gave the right to become the children of God. They are reborn - not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son. From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses, but God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father's heart. He has revealed God to us." (John 1:10-18 NLT)