And, endurance is needed to get through this character and life transforming process. This is no casual walk in the park we are talking about.
So, this is that authentic redemptive journey which those early “multitudes” so willingly took on and successfully completed. Indeed, this is that thoroughly renewing path, blazed by the work of both the Dying and the Living Christ, which not only frees the souls of believers from the clutches of the Darkness; but, it also frees them from their own disabling brokenness as well – just as God always intended.
Sadly, however, by this late hour in history and due entirely to the work of the Darkness, this authentic redemptive path has become much more obscured by other deceptive and misleading pathways. And many now succumb to the charms of those simpler and less demanding paths. And, the prevalence of those dark charms has actually had the effect of casting a long shadow of rejection over this true path.
So, enabled and sustained by the shared vibrancy of the Living Christ as He lives within, the believer experiences this personal transformation. And, it is, indeed, a journey which brings real newness to his or her heart (character essence) and lifestyle realities. And, contrary to that now widely popular mistake – this trans-formative part of our redemptive journey is absolutely not optional.
And, as ministers of God’s redemptive truth, we would hope that any reluctance of contemporary congregations to hear and respond to the greater challenges of the authentic redemptive journey would not quell our willingness to energetically proclaim them. But is all of this actually true?
Or, might those numbers based pressures drive us to allow less altruistic concerns to begin to weigh in on our thinking and behavior? So, maybe a numbers threat to our personal validation, credibility, job security, or our prospects regarding that ministerial “ladder climb” might begin to have some impact. Perhaps we might then begin to soft-peddle or just avoid this more stringent message altogether, in the face of less receptive modern congregations.
Or, maybe, in this case, we would start to refrain from "defending the faith", i.e. from ever critically juxtaposing our authentic message of redemption with its heretical competitors. And this, so we could maintain our personal and our denominational image as thoughtful and attractive men and women of peace – thus, alienating none (except our own integrity), all in deference to the numbers and the perceptions they demand of us.
And, at such a point, the Spirit’s whispering voice makes every effort to convince the believer to embrace and/or proclaim this real and thorough newness of heart and life in the Living Christ. Nevertheless, these Holy Spirit interventions, however they turn out, ever remain just that, a negotiation.
They are necessarily never irresistible demands. The believer’s level of devotion is always left to decide the outcome of these loving confrontations. And, many do actually resist these urgings by the Divine Spirit.
This is true because their soul hangs in the balance. So, the Spirit is ever faithful to return again and again to attempt to achieve this crucial enlightenment.
But unfortunately, something else is also true. Our willful stubbornness can also be as perpetual as His faithful effort - a reality which can seal our eternal doom.
So, at this late redemptive hour, the pews, the pulpits, and Church administrations all across this contemporary Church are now alight with the intellectual and emotional sparks of these intense, life-and-death, personal negotiations with the Divine Spirit. And, countless under-invested souls within the Church do, indeed, hang in the balance.
Nevertheless, the nature of God's ultimate redemptive aspiration never wavers. It ever remains that divine intention to bring to pass that every day reality of a durable and mutually fulfilling friendship with the believer, made strong and consistent through that unique symbiotic merger with the all sufficient Living Christ.
So, the ultimate redemptive end game simply cannot merely be about forgiveness. Again, this wondrous beginning benefit must necessarily evolve into this Christ-empowered transformation of our character and our lifestyle realities. It must be so to facilitate that heart-oneness with God which is so completely indispensable to that long awaited and mutually gratifying friendship which God eagerly anticipates with every the believer.
That consummate friendship is what was lost in the Garden of Eden all those eons ago. And, that friendship is what the redemptive work of Jesus is now putting back one person at a time. And, He is doing so in a much better and more substantial way. And ultimately, God simply will not settle for less.
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew [In the Greek: "Genosco" - a deep and intimate knowing] you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" ~ Jesus [Brackets added]Numbers matter in the Church. But redemptive truth matters more. The simple reality is that redemptive truth actually defines the numbers; and, never is the reverse true - in spite of that now widely cherished delusion.