oh HAPPY DAY!

I'm in Fort Collins, Colorado, where there are gathered, thousands of people who are all on this earth for the same reason... to love and follow and teach the good news of Jesus Christ. This morning was our first corporate session and as I looked out across Moby Gym, I saw the Kingdom converging. Each person walked into this place with their whole lives behind them and one purpose before them. Reality is, there was a lot more preoccupying each of their minds, because I was experiencing a lot more in mine. As the worship started, songs of God's promises, His truths, and His grace being sung, I was able to put all those things down. I let them go as my heart bowed before the Cross. Behind each voice that was crying out to the Lord was and is a heart that has been changed by Him and will continue to be changed by Him. Together we are a family that is constantly growing and expanding. All of it for His glory.

Oh happy day, happy day
You washed my sin away
Oh happy day, happy day
I'll never be the same
Forever I am changed

I got a clearer picture of the gospel. I saw clearly that I have not been experiencing it fully. I never will be able to with my own intellect. We had the privilege of hearing from Tim Keller today. He is obviously full of the Holy Spirit and the way it spills out of his heart is through the words that he shares with us. There was a lot that I wanted to retain from the talk, but I walked away with one thing that changed my perspective of the good news of Jesus Christ. I briefly want to share it, but let me just say that I do not have the words or the concise and thought-provoking ways that Tim Keller does. Here it goes:

As a society, we face a lot of pressures to justify our existence with what we claim to be; an artist, a mother, a thief, a student, a friend, a busy business person, a dentist, a therapist, a murderer, a musician, a "what every label or title you carry". These things are what people know us as, and we see them as our identity, our "valid" excuse to perfect who we are and become who we want. Our idea of receiving God's forgiveness is to come to Him whole, put together, perfect and blameless. This is self-righteousness. This is what keeps me from experiencing the gospel.

God doesn't require us to be perfect when we come to Him. He actually prefers that we aren't. Imagine that! This righteousness we try to find in ourselves is a mere counterfeit of the righteousness of Christ that God offers us through the Cross. In Christ we are perfect. We are blameless and with out blemish before God. When we apply this truth to our lives we can recognize that our efforts to clean ourselves up are wasted.

I learned today that justification doesn't stop at forgiveness. When we are forgiven, it's as though we are let out of jail, the chains are cut from our wrists and ankles and we are free to run from the negative things that we were enslaved to. Justification is a welcoming, warm and comforting, positive invitation into a new kind of life where we will be refined and polished, constantly changing as we rely on the Holy Spirit. As we turn from sin, we should turn to the one who saved us from it, rejoicing with all we have inside us!

Oh happy day, happy day
You washed my sin away
Oh happy day, happy day
I'll never be the same
Forever I am changed

When I stand, in that place
Free at last, meeting face to face
I am Yours Jesus You are mine
Endless joy, perfect peace
Earthly pain finally will cease
Celebrate Jesus is alive
He's alive