Many Jewish people did not (and still do not) believe that Jesus was the Messiah because they were looking for the Lion of Judah, a triumphant king, riding in and defeating their enemies and freeing them from Roman rule. Jesus entering as a baby, in a manger; growing up a carpenter’s son; challenging the ruling order at the time that they were misunderstanding the law as it was intended. Even in Levitical law, it was not about works, but faith. They were so worried about the letter of the law that they were missing the point and making things more difficult for God’s chosen people to encounter Him. Jesus came as the sacrificial lamb to fulfill the law of Moses, to become the final sacrifice and make a way for all people to encounter God.
As Christians, we know Jesus the lamb. He is the very focus of our faith, and the reason for our salvation. When we think of him coming back, that is who we picture. We run the risk of being like our Jewish brothers and sisters who missed Yeshua because he didn’t come how they expected. And I for one do not want to be stuck here on this side of heaven when Jesus comes back. For when Jesus comes the second time, he enters as the Lion, coming to defeat ultimate evil in this world. He will enter in triumph and cast down judgement on humanity, those who are not saved. Since God is loving and patient and offers so many more chances than we deserve, even after Jesus comes for his bride (the church) and the restrainer is off, people can still repent and turn their hearts towards Him before the final judgement.
Our sin/physical bodies will never keep us from salvation, as that is the world we live in and God knows we cannot overcome the world, so he did it for us. But our heart, our faith, that can get in the way. We are to live in the world, not of the world. If we accept Christ’s gift of sacrifice and open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, we can’t help but be changed. If we continue to live as we did before, trusting that we are forgiven because of Christ’s sacrifice, couldn’t that be blaspheming the Holy Spirit that lives in us, which is in fact the only sin God says he cannot forgive? Maybe at first, we struggle with it and want to repent and change, but the longer we live as if nothing has happened, the greater the risk that we will turn our back on God and harden our hearts to Him.
In Matthew 12:43-45, Jesus tells a story of an unclean spirit being cast out of a person, and after searching around for somewhere else to rest and finding none, it decides to return to the person it was driven from. That spirit found the person “empty, swept, and put in order.” So, it gets seven spirits more evil than itself and moves back in, leaving that person worse than they started. There is a parallel here. Before knowing and accepting Christ, a person wouldn’t know better so they wouldn’t be expected to do better, and the fight for their soul was on one level. Once they know better, then the stakes are even higher. If they have the Holy Spirit within them, that space is filled, but the battle will continue to rage. For those spirits want that “empty, swept, and put in order” place to dwell. This is where evil’s great deception really kicks in.
For those who have been saved, the deception could be that they can live however they want because it is not by works but by faith that we are saved, as we are shown in Ephesians 2:8-9. However, God’s grace is not a free pass to act however we want and just “ask for forgiveness.” If we read on to Ephesians 2:10, “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.” James 2:17 spells it out even more clearly, “Faith without works is dead.” While it is our faith and God’s grace that give us salvation, by truly accepting that salvation we are changed, and our works should reflect that.
Another angle of this deception is that we have committed sin that God will not forgive. God can and will forgive anything we do (except blaspheming the Holy Spirit). If we genuinely repent and turn from our evil ways and give our heart to God, we are forgiven. What if someone has done that, but continues to fear that they cannot be forgiven for what they have done? It could cause them to live in great inner turmoil, start thinking if they cannot be saved then there is no point in changing their behavior. It could lead them to being angry with God for how they feel, their life, etc. which could cause them to harden their heart and actually turn from God.
In this time between Advent and Lent, as we move from celebrating the birth of the lamb, to mourning his death on the cross, and then rejoicing at his resurrection, don’t forget to keep your eyes out for the lion. Jesus is coming back, and there will come a time when the ultimate line in the sand will be drawn. Know that both the Lion and the Lamb love you so much, they left their throne in glory and became flesh, humbling themselves so that we might spend eternity with them in Heaven. Step fully into the best gift we could ever receive, salvation in Jesus Christ. Live confidently that you are forgiven, not because you deserve it but because God is just that awesome. And live a life that reflects that forgiveness and love, so that others might also know both the lamb in the manger, and the lion on the throne.
