{"id":197,"date":"2010-06-26T05:25:55","date_gmt":"2010-06-26T09:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spendyourself.org\/?p=197"},"modified":"2011-09-21T03:58:33","modified_gmt":"2011-09-21T03:58:33","slug":"the-failure-of-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/test.fromscarlet.com\/?p=197","title":{"rendered":"The “Failure” of the Cross…"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Count it a blessing that you’re such a failure… Your second chance might never have come…” – David Bazzan (Pedro the Lion)<\/h3>\n

If I wasn’t such a failure at almost everything I do, \u00a0than I wouldn’t get the chance to witness and appreciate the miracles of Jesus. \u00a0Our failures and lack of faith open up authentic opportunities for us to see the glory of the Lord shine even through our darkest nights… Jesus’s supposed “failure” \u00a0when he was crucified painted the black background that makes the resurrection masterpieces all the more gloriously beautiful. \u00a0At the cross, our darkest sins and most hideous failures as humans are mixed together to form the blackest background imaginable. \u00a0The painting looks grim, the canvas stained by utter darkness, the viewer can not help but get the sense of hopelessness. \u00a0Three days later we see our God paint a masterpiece over such a background. \u00a0The colors of redemption shine forth as the resurrection mural comes to life on the canvas. \u00a0From the blank expressionless darkness erupts a glorious masterpiece with every stroke. God laughs as He paints over our sin, as the very thing that once damned us becomes the backdrop that makes his pardoning grace so real and magnificent. \u00a0What a story! \u00a0The cross and the resurrection is God’s best work, since He himself is personally involved. \u00a0His paint is His own blood, covering our sin forever… At the cross God “fails.” \u00a0In the resurrection, He conquers sin and death forever and His glory is displayed to every generation and on the canvas of every Christian’s life. \u00a0 For each of us who have believed this message and trust in the redemptive work of Christ, we are now God’s workmanship and his artwork, a beautiful display of His splendor for His Glory .<\/p>\n

As my heart hears and believes such a message I cannot help but have hope. \u00a0This is good news for a sinner such as me. \u00a0It means that I don’t have to be the one to try and make a beautiful and worthwhile picture of my life… because I know I can’t. \u00a0All I really do is taint the background with my darkness, giving our redemptive God the chance to paint on the canvas of my life the very image of the risen Christ. \u00a0Maybe that is what repentance really is… recognizing our role as the dark background that makes the beautiful face of our savior stand out all the more. Maybe that is what faith is… believing that God through the work of Christ is indeed painting a beautiful picture over the mess we create.<\/p>\n

This continues to baffle’s me. \u00a0In my weakness, that is when Jesus is the strongest. To the extent I realize that my sin and weakness covering the canvas of my life is merely the background for the redeemer to paint a masterpiece over, to that extent I am able to have hope even in the midst of failure. A \u00a0hope that everything is working for the good of those who love God and are called to His purpose. Everything… even my sin… even the cross…<\/p>\n

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“Count it a blessing that you’re such a failure… Your second chance might never have come…” – David Bazzan (Pedro the Lion) If I wasn’t such a failure at almost everything I do, \u00a0than I wouldn’t get the chance to witness and appreciate the miracles of Jesus. \u00a0Our failures and lack of faith open up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-theological-reflections"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/test.fromscarlet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/test.fromscarlet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/test.fromscarlet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/test.fromscarlet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/test.fromscarlet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=197"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/test.fromscarlet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":729,"href":"http:\/\/test.fromscarlet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions\/729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/test.fromscarlet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/test.fromscarlet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/test.fromscarlet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}