In our last lecture we discussed Intimacy with God and how we were created to have an intimacy with Him. However, due to sin, we no longer experience that perfect intimacy with God. In the book Connecting Larry Crabb, gives an interesting perspective on how Christ came to save us, died and rose again so that we could experience that intimacy with Him. The context of this is a meeting with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and in this portion, the Father is speaking to the Son. "Son, at just the right time I'll send you to become one of them and to accept the guilt for their sin. Then (and here the Father's voice broke) I'll break the connection and let you experience the death of separation from me that all sin deserves. When they see the extremes to which we will go to bring them into our community, the yearning we'll build into their hearts to be loved like that will draw them back to loving us fully and trusting us with their very souls" (Crabb, p. 59). What a beautiful picture of love this creates. While obviously this is not an actual conversation, it truly depicts the love that God has for us; the intimacy and connectedness that we desire to have with Him.
The past few weeks in class have really made an impact on me personally. It has been refreshing to hear how the Lord created us for intimacy. I think this helps me, as a future counselor, to see where a lot of human motivation comes from. There is so much hurt and pain that people go through seeking for love, yet they can never find it in another individual. That intimacy that we seek can only be found through Christ Jesus. I am continually reminded at Easter how much the Lord loves us, and how much he sacrificed for us. Below is a trailer for the movie "The Passion of the Christ". This movie shows the Easter story and is a good reminder as to what Jesus went through for us; what He went through for you.
What a wonderful post great job relating the topic to the book "Connecting". Since the movie "The Passion of the Christ" came out in theaters, it has been my family's tradition to watch it very year during Easter to serve as a reminder of the reason for the season. Although it can be difficult to sit through the graphic scenes of Christ being beaten are very difficult, they become etched in my mind. How humbling is it that the Son of God longs to save me? He desires an intimate relationship with me and is jealous for me and my time. God is watching us, and patiently waiting for us to pick up our Bible, sing a worship song to him, or just cry out in prayer, while we go about our busy and "important" days, neglecting one and one time with him. God is waiting on the other line, longing for me to say something to him...longing to connect with my spirit.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say that I truly appreciated your post and found it a great reminder for what Easter truly is. It seems that it is so easy to wander in our faith and not see Easter for what it really is, and we tend to forget all that Christ went through just for US. Watching the movie, it is so difficult to watch the harsh treatment that Christ went through, however I can only imagine that having his heavenly Father turn away from him was truly worse than anything else that He endured. It is so important that we never forget what He has done for us and what He continues to do today.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think it is important to try to refocus our understanding of what the celebration of Easter is truely about. I know I have tried to be more deliberate about focusing on the meaning behind the holidays we celebrate, so I appreciate your perspective in this post. I think often people get caught up in the excitment of the holiday and forget the true meaning. Also I think people just focus on the specific events and forget about the larger story. Christianity is about more than Jesus birth and death, but those are the two times that many people decide to go to church. I have been amazed lately at how the entire Bible tells an amazing story over thousands of years. Each event has significant meaning to the larger story. I believe this story is meant to show God's love for us and his purpose for our lives.
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