This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad. Psalm 118:24.
Chapter 10.
Your Baptism, a Holy Thursday Just for You.
10.1 Immunized from the poison of sin.
Dearest Child of God, by taking upon Himself our sufferings, the sufferings and death of every man, woman and child whoever was, who is and whoever will be, Jesus immunized you and me from the fatal poison of sin.
How did your King's love reach out to you personally? How were you personally identified as the person He came to suffer and die for in your stead? On Holy Thursday Jesus, "Took some bread and when he had given thanks, broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body which will be given up for you; do this as a memorial of me'. He did the same with the cup saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood which will be poured out for you.'" (1) The word "You" in His loving sacrificial offering, includes you and me and every man, woman and child who was, who is and who will be.
On the day of your baptism, your parents held your tiny, helpless body with love and tenderness. Because they were members of the Body of Christ, through them, it was our dear Lord who held you in His arms.
As the life-giving water (visible sign of His redemptive love) trickled onto your head, His Holy Thursday of 2,000 years ago reached out through time and space and became a personal, historical event between Jesus and you. His "You" (2) of Holy Thursday is now revealed as your beautiful name, for with God, "a thousand years are a single day, a yesterday now over, an hour of the night." (3)
As that first drop of life-giving water kissed your little head, through your parents and His minister, Jesus brought you into His resurrected heart. All the pain, suffering and death which was your lot as a descendant of father Adam and mother Eve, were then confirmed as having been taken by Jesus onto Himself, 'This is my body which will be given up for you.' (4) Christ's death was your death. His resurrection is your resurrection; you are no longer a son of the old Adam but a child of God again in Christ Jesus.
In that loving event of your baptism, in time and in space on your own personal, historical day of salvation, Jesus gave Himself up for you to shelter you in His glorified body where you are now a new creation.
This, your first resurrection, means being alive as God's Child in Christ Jesus. He resurrected you from the deep, dark black grave of death into His bright life giving Body. "The Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many." (5)
10.2 How Jesus immunized us from the poison of sin.
How did Jesus save you and me from the poison and death of sin? Imagine a lamb grazing peacefully in a pasture. A deadly venomous serpent approaches. The lamb sees it but does nothing. When the serpent is close enough, it springs upon the animal and inserts its needle-sharp fangs into it. It then wraps itself around its victim for a firm hold; then with a tenacious bite it lets the deadly toxin flow. Filled with terror and pain, the lamb shudders and trembles as its nervous system goes into paralysis. Breathing becomes difficult. It loses its ability to contract and expand its lungs. In its final convulsions it falls to the ground, dead. Lazily, the serpent unwraps itself from the lifeless body and leaves.
A few minutes later a second serpent approaches. More poisonous than the first, it too injects the lamb with its deadly venom. Will this second injection have any effect on the lamb? Of course not. Why? Because the lamb is already dead and poison has no effect on what is already dead.
This is what Jesus did for you, for your spouse, for your children and for me: He bore the pains of the fruit of sin: separation from God, shame of nakedness, fear, isolation, loneliness, despair, anger, confusion, discouragement, terror, humiliation, murder, war, rape, famine, poverty, prostitution, deceit, killing, terrorism, adultery, abuse, torture, destruction, anxiety, abandonment and every heartbreaking pain associated with these terrible consequences of sin. He bore the spiritual, emotional, mental, physical sufferings and death that the poison of sin brought into our lives.
Jesus willingly took upon himself the spiritual, emotional, mental and physical sufferings and death of all the sins of every person whoever was, who is and whoever will be, from the very first to the very last. All these he suffered in the space of a few hours, unto the death of the cross.
He delivered himself, "Like a sheep that is led to the slaughterhouse, like a lamb that is dumb in front of its shearers, like these he never opens his mouth. He has been humiliated and has no one to defend him." (6)
They scourged Him with innumerable lashes, cutting and lacing His sacred body. Jesus suffered these fiery burns in reconciliation for our sins of the flesh.
On His sacred head, they placed a crown made from hard needle sharp thorns. Our King suffered these excruciating pains in reconciliation for our sins of the mind.
As He carried His heavy cross over the stone streets of Jerusalem, they mocked Him, spat on Him, stoned and ridiculed Him. Their dogs bit at His heels. Jesus suffered these abuses and degradations in reconciliation for our blasphemies against God.
With outstretched arms on the cross, He suffered a horrible, painful, shameful death, a death that was so rightly ours. He embraced the consequences and sufferings of every sin, from Adam's to mine and yours, to the last person who will live on this earth.
Like the lamb that died because of the poisonous venom of the serpent and can no longer die again no matter how many other serpents inject their venom into it, we too (in Christ Jesus) are dead to the poison of sin. Jesus took upon himself ALL the sufferings that belonged to us as well as our death. Now we (without having to suffer the pain of the wages of sin) are now (in Christ Jesus) dead to the poison of sin. Because we are dead to the poison of sin, the venom of sin no longer has any terminal effect on us.
"Death, where is your sting?" (7)
"When he died, he died, once for all, to sin, so his life now is life with God; and in that way, you too must consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus." (8)
"The reason, therefore, why those who are in Christ Jesus are not condemned, is that the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. God has done what the Law, because of our unspiritual nature, was unable to do. God dealt with sin by sending his own Son in a body as physical as any sinful body and in that body God condemned sin." (9)
10.3 A comparison of the Redemptive Act.
Here is another way to vizualize the impact of Jesus' love for you and me.
Imagine that your great-great-grandfather made a very bad business deal. Mortgaging his lands and holdings at such a high rate of interest, neither he nor the generations that followed were ever able to pay off any of the capital. As the unpaid interest accumulated and accumulated, the debt grew and grew. Now you are the owner of these properties. You will spend the rest of your life working day and night, to pay for a debt incurred by your ancestors on land you now live. The very land that sustains you is also your curse.
Then one day, a person comes by and tells you he knows of your plight. Because he cares about the quality of life you, your wife and your children deserve, he says, "Here, give me your mortgage. I have enough funds to pay it and all the interest you owe. I will pay the mortgagor in full with my own funds, funds which you could never hope to have. From now on, live debt free to the mortgagor."
You are in disbelief! One minute you and your family are hopelessly in debt. All of you had life sentences to work day and night just to stay alive. Now you are free from all debt. You do not owe a penny to anyone! This total stranger, paid your backbreaking mortgage. Instead of life going on day after day and year after year in despair, anguish and hopelessness, your future is now full of new and exciting possibilities. Each of you tastes anew the sweetness of a life that all had given up of ever knowing again. Now you and your loved ones need not worry anymore. All can now enjoy the wonderful gift of life, full of freedom, together, without a care to dampen your spirits. An unbearable load has been taken off your shoulders.
Because this stranger loved you and your family enough to pay this mortgage with his own funds, the future is now completely in each person's own two hands.
Alas, our dear Lord did much more than this. There was no simple mortgage for him to pay. Our redemption required an act of love in direct proportion to the debt we brought on to ourselves.
10.4 Your baptism is your first resurrection.
Friend, do you realize what has happened to you because of your baptism? Do you truly realize that because of your baptism you are now living your first resurrection, the resurrection of your soul in the Body of Christ?
Because of your baptism, He has resurrected you from the dead and you are now living a new life, a life in the Spirit in Christ Jesus. Jesus has given you a new life, a life filled with new hope, new audacity and new power to do Godly things. "Ah, what is man that you should spare a thought for him, the son of man that you should care for him? Yet you have made him little less than a god." (10)
Our dear Lord, having taken upon Himself the death that was yours, has resurrected, to die no more. If you live this first resurrection of your soul, this new life you have in Jesus (which is where you are NOW), you will die no more. At the second resurrection, which is the resurrection of your body at the end of time, your body will rise free from decay and death to be united in joyous reunion with your resurrected soul, forever in God's glory.
However if you do not live your present resurrection in Christ Jesus, you will die twice; first the death of your soul in this life then the eternal death of body and soul at the end of time.
Now at this very moment, in this your first resurrection is the time for you live. Now is the time to make those decisions and to do those things which befit one who has received a new life. A great life. A glorious life. An eternal life. A life claimed at the price of much Love. A life in the glorious body of Christ Jesus, Son of God. Now in this your first resurrection is the time for you to live your life as the child of God that you are. Your life in the Kingdom of God is now. THIS IS IT! Everything you do must be in this reality. Here is what Saint Augustine says about the two resurrections.
10.5 St. Augustine and the two resurrections. (11)
"6. The first resurrection and the second.
Jesus then goes on to say, 'Mark my words carefully: I am telling you that a time is coming, in fact it has already come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear shall live. For the Father has life in himself, so has the Son, by the Father's gift.'
He is not yet speaking of the second resurrection, that is, the resurrection of the body, which is to come at the end of the world, but about the first, which is here and now. It is, in fact, to distinguish the two that he says, 'The time is coming, in fact it is already come.'
This resurrection, however, is not the resurrection of the body, but of the soul. For souls also have their own death, in the shape of irreligion and sin, the death died by those referred to by the Lord when He says, 'Let the dead bury their own dead', that is, 'Let those who are dead in soul bury those who are dead in body.' Thus he is speaking of those who are dead in soul, because of irreligion and wickedness, when He says, 'The time is coming, in fact it has already come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear shall live.' By 'those who hear' he means 'those who obey and believe and who persevere to the end.' And He does not here make any distinction between the good and the evil. For it is good for all to hear his voice and to come to life by passing over from the death of irreligion to the life of devotion.
It is of this death that the apostle Paul is speaking when he says, 'Therefore all mankind has died; and he died for all, so that men, when they are alive, should not live for themselves henceforth, but should live for him who for their sake died and rose again.' So all men are dead in sin, without any exception at all, whether that sin is original sin or voluntary sin in addition to that-committed either in ignorance of what is right, or by failing to do what is known to be right. And for all these dead, there died the one man truly alive, that is, the one who had no sin at all. And his purpose was that those who are alive through the forgiveness of sins should henceforth live not for themselves but for him who died for all mankind, on account of our sins and rose again for our justification so that we may put our faith in him who justifies the irreligious and being brought from irreligion to righteousness- brought as if from death to life might thus be able to take part in the first resurrection which is here and now. For in this first resurrection only those take part who will be blessed for eternity, whereas in the second, about which Jesus is soon to speak, he will teach us that the blessed and the wretched alike take part.
The one is the resurrection of mercy, the other the resurrection of judgment. That is the meaning of the verse in the psalm, 'I will sing to you, Lord, of mercy and of judgment.' Jesus goes on to speak of this judgment, in saying, 'And he has given him authority to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man'. Here he is showing that he will come to judge in the body in which he came to be judged; that is the point of saying 'because he is the Son of Man'.
Then he adds the words relevant to our present topic. 'Do not be surprised at this, that the time is coming when all who are in the grave will hear his voice and will come out; those who have done right will rise to life, those who have done wrong will rise for judgment.' This is judgment in the sense in which he used the word a little before, meaning 'condemnation', when he said, 'He who listens to my words and puts his faith in him who sent me, has everlasting life and will not come up for judgment, but has passed over from death to life.' This means that by taking part in the first resurrection which effects the passage from death to life, he will not come up for condemnation, which is what he means by the term 'judgment; as he does also in this other place, where he says, 'Those who have done wrong will rise for judgment.'
And so anyone who does not wish to be condemned in the second resurrection must rise up in the first. For the time is coming, in fact it has already come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live, that is they will not come into condemnation, the 'second death,' as it is called. Into this death, after the second resurrection, the resurrection of bodies which is to come, they will be hurled who do not rise up in the first resurrection, the resurrection of souls.
For the time is coming (and here he does not say 'and in fact it has come already' because it is to be at the end of the world. that is, at the last and greatest judgment of God) when all who are in the grave will hear his voice and will come out.' He does not say, as in the first resurrection, 'and those who hear it will live.' For not all will live, that is, not all will have that life which, because it is a life of bliss, is the only life truly worthy of the name. For obviously they could not, without life of some sort, hear and come forth from the grave in the resurrection of the body. Now he tells us in the next verse why they will not all live.
'Those who have done right', he says; 'will rise to life' - they are those who are to live - 'but those who have done wrong will rise for judgment' - they are those who are not to live, because they are to die the second death. They have, in fact, done wrong because their life has been wicked. And their life has been wicked because in the first resurrection, the resurrection of souls which is here and now, they have not risen to a new life, or they did once so rise, but have not continued in that new life to the end. (Underline is mine.)
There are thus two rebirths, of which I have already spoken above: one according to faith, which comes here and now through baptism, and the other in the body, a rebirth which will come in its freedom from decay and death, as a result of the great and last judgment. Similarly, there are two resurrections: the first, the resurrection of the soul, which is here and now and prevents us from coming to the second death; and the second, which is not now, but is to come at the end of the world. This is not the resurrection of the soul but of the body and by means of the last judgment it will consign many to the second death and bring others to the life that knows no death."
10.6 Saint Paul and living our first resurrection.
In Romans 13:11-14, our brother Paul tells us, "Besides, you know the time has come: you must wake up now: our salvation is even nearer than it was when we were converted. The night is almost over, it will be daylight soon - let us give up all the things we prefer to do under the cover of the dark; let us arm ourselves and appear in the light. Let us live decently as people do in the daytime: no drunken orgies, no promiscuity or licentiousness and no wrangling or jealousy. Let your armour be the Lord Jesus Christ; forget about satisfying your bodies with all their cravings."
And, again he says, "Brothers, this is what I mean: our time is growing short. Those who have wives should live as though they have none and those who mourn should live as though they had nothing to mourn for; those enjoying life should live as though there were nothing to laugh about; those whose life is buying things should live as though they had nothing of their own; and those, who have to deal with the world should not become engrossed in it. I say this because the world as we know it is passing away." (12)
10.7 Saint John and living our first resurrection.
Our brother John wrote, "This is the revelation given by God to Jesus Christ so that he could tell his servants about the things which are now to take place very soon; he sent his angel to make it known to his servant John and John has written down everything he saw and swears it is the word of God guaranteed by Jesus Christ. Happy the man who reads this prophecy and happy those who listen to him, if they treasure all that it says, because the Time is close." (13)
10.8 You are a new creation.
Dearest Friend, because of Jesus' love for you, you, your spouse, your children . . . are now a new creation in the Kingdom of God, "And for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone and now the new one is here." (14) And, "Then the One sitting on the throne spoke: 'Now I am making the whole of creation new'" (15) Your baptism in Christ Jesus has made you a new creation.
10.9 Your new title and your crown.
"He raises the poor from the dust, he lifts the needy from the dunghill to give them a place with princes, and to assign them a seat of honour." (16) Dearest Child of God, because of the resurrection of your soul through baptism, you are now a part of the new Jerusalem in Jesus, "You are to be a crown of splendour in the hands of Yahweh, a princely diadem in the hand of your God." (17) Because of your royal stature, you will be known as the Monarch, you will now be addressed as your Highness.
10.10 God looks at you in wonder and in awe.
A mother looks at her newborn in deep contemplation. In silence, the babe too searches her countenance and strives to see her features, she who has given him his very existence. This, the moment of their first meeting, is beyond words and belongs to the eyes alone.
Your Highness, because you are now a new creation in Christ Jesus, God also looks at you in marvel, in awe and in wonder for you are made in His image, "God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them." (18)
10.11 Made in God's image, but whom do you look like?
As you strive to see God's face, to find His countenance and to look into His eyes, whom do you see? Saint John tells us, "No one has ever seen God; it is only the Son, who is nearest to the Father's heart who has made him known." (19) So, you are made in God's image, but you have not seen God.
"Whom do you look like then?"
"Where do you come from?"
"Where are you going?"
Jesus is who you look like, for Jesus is who God looks like. He says, "To have seen me is to have seen the Father," (20) and again He says, "If you know me, you know the Father too." (21)
Jesus is the image of our Father.
Jesus is how our Father acts.
Jesus reveals our Father's values.
Jesus reveals our Father's priorities.
Jesus' thoughts are our Father's thoughts.
Jesus does things the way our Father does.
Jesus sees what our Father sees.
Jesus has the power our Father has.
Jesus goes where our Father goes.
Your Highness, you, your spouse, your children . . . have been made in the image of Jesus Christ, Son of God. So newborn in Christ Jesus, rub your eyes and look at His divine face. See whom you look like. See where you came from. Search His countenance; see how beautiful, wonderful and blessed you are. Look at Jesus' Heart and you will see everything you need to see and know everything you need to know about your God in whose image you are made.
10.12 Jesus is a natural Presence in our lives.
One evening I was on the sun deck praying the Liturgy of the Hours, when I asked our dear mother Mary, "Mother, why is it I have to follow Jesus? Why can't I be with the Father without following Jesus?" In a selfish sort of mood, I did not think that it was fair for our heavenly Father to have me follow another Person. Why couldn't we be just the two of us, Father and son? I felt I was a second class child. I knew this was not a question to be proud of, but it was in me and I wanted to deal with it. Where else to go for help but to your mother?
Her response was to ask me if I begrudged our heavenly Father for having made the sun?
"No, of course not." I replied. Without the sun my eyes would be useless. I would not be able to see everything there is to see in this incredibly beautiful creation. I need the light of the sun if my eyes are to see."
"And so it is with Jesus," she said. "Jesus is the Light your eyes need to see God. You are not a 'second class child.'"
I detected a mild reprimand. What a wonderful spiritual Mother our dear Lord has blessed us with.
10.13 Jesus, our Light to see God by.
Look to Jesus, your Highness, and you will see everything you need to see and know everything you need to know about God in whose image you are made. Learn from Jesus. Walk with Him. Listen to Him. Talk with Him. Do the things He does. There is no one else anywhere who can offer you so much, indeed, who offers it all to you as Jesus does.
Jesus tells us, "If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy complete." (22)
10.14 Your will.
Your Highness, to enable you to keep Jesus' commandments, to remain in His love and to govern effectively in your corner of the Kingdom of God, He gave you power over everything within your realm. This power is yours and yours alone. No one can take this power from you unless you give it to them. This power is your will, a very precious treasure indeed.
Since all you really own is your will, since it is yours and yours alone, it is the only thing you will be held fully accountable for when you return to your Father's home, "So I tell you this, that for every unfounded word men utter they will answer on judgment day, since it is by your words you will be acquitted and by your words condemned." (23)
In our journey together, a sword with two razor-sharp edges will symbolize your will. One edge symbolizes your power to say "Yes!" and the other edge symbolizes your power to say, "No!" These are two little words, "Yes." and "No." They are little indeed but their power is awesome. You know from your own experience, better than anything I can share with you, how effective and final these two little words are.
You must be very skilled in using your sword (your will). You should know how to use it quickly, effectively, and with finality. The blows you strike with it must be lethal for you may not get a second chance. It must be kept at your side always. You must be skilled enough and strong enough to slay the largest dragon and be nimble and quick enough to kill the smallest serpent.
Your Highness, as we continue our journey together, we will learn when to say, "Yes." to what is good and holy and for our heavenly Father's greater glory and when to say, "No!" to everything else.
You should always make decisions using your will and never act in response to your emotions or physical appetites alone. Emotions and physical appetites are good when used to fuel and to give thrust to your will once you have chosen your plan of action. Emotions and physical appetites, however, cannot by themselves make good decisions. Appetites and emotions are ignorant in the ways of discernment. A sailing ship needs all the wind its sails can hold. Your will also needs emotions and appetites to fill your determination and to steadfastly hold on to your course. A ship blown about by the winds with no one at the rudder can only have a violent end. If you allow your emotions and physical appetites to replace your will, you will no longer reign as a Monarch in the Kingdom of God. You cannot reign in the Kingdom of God unless you have control over your will. "He is the radiant light of God's glory and the perfect copy of his nature, sustaining the universe by his powerful command." (24)
You must not allow your sword (will) to become dull through a lack of use. If you do, vain pride or uncontrolled physical appetites will take this power away from you. Ruthless rulers and devourers will try to usurp your throne. These would then govern your kingdom for their own self-serving goals and ambitions. If this happens, you must recover your throne and return to power as the rightful Monarch. The decision to love is an act of the will. Have you so decreed for the happiness of your loved one?
10.15 Your heart.
In Scripture, the word 'heart' is the seat of life or inner strength. If the heart symbolizes the seat of life, then it symbolizes as well all those preoccupations and concerns relevant to the giving of life, to the sustaining of life. It is also, by its very nature, acutely alert and sensitive to all those things that can diminish or threaten life. In this exercise, the heart will symbolize Life and the concerns of Life. In our journey, the heart will represent Jesus, Heart of hearts, who is Life Itself and in whose image you are made.
10.16 Your mind.
Your mind is another wonderful treasure given to you, your Highness. The role of reason, imagination, memory, intelligence and all your cerebral faculties is to receive the dreams and visions of the Heart, to faithfully show the will its choices, to determine what resources you need and what would be the best way to cause their transformation and to accept your decision.
Your mind is well equipped for this purpose. It is instructed by learning, stimulated by your imagination, guided by your memory, enhanced by your natural abilities, talents, inherited and developed gifts and skills. Taught by Jesus, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, no problem is too difficult for the mind to resolve. No goal is impossible to reach. Guided by your will, the mind can carry out extremely well the tasks assigned to it.
The mind (unlike the heart) has no ability or capacity to dream dreams and see visions in the Kingdom of God. Consequently, the mind does not have the authority to alter in any way the dreams and visions of the Monarch. These dreams and visions are inspired by his Royal Confidante Jesus and affect the welfare of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of God. Should the mind try to do so (really an attempt by logic to overrule Love) tragedy and disaster will overcome the Kingdom. We will see how, when we visit the Kingdom of Man and the Kingdom of Satan.
The mind's only joy is to help the dreams of the Monarch come true. "How can I help my Monarch realize the inspirations of our Royal Confidante?" it asks. Therein lies the true worth of the mind. This is what it does best, helping the Monarch to make the dreams and visions of our King come true.
10.17 Your body.
Your Highness, your body is another marvel in the Kingdom of God. Jesus, your Royal Confidante, shares His visions and dreams with you. As Monarch, you have discerned that they are in fact from the Lord your God. Your mind then searches and suggests to you how to best make these visions and dreams come true. Once your will has made a choice, the plans are drawn and given to your body for implementation.
Supported by the royal troops (good health, physical strengths and skills) your body then begins the process of transforming creation for God's greater glory. Like a good soldier, the body carries out its responsibilities without question, for the Monarch will not ask it to do what it cannot do.
No matter how worthy the dreams of the Monarch or how well the mind has drawn the plans, if the body cannot respond effectively, transformation of the Kingdom cannot materialize. The state of one's health is of constant concern to the Monarch. Nutritional food, proper exercise, medical checkups, good living habits etc. are all part of the royal program for maintaining the "armed forces" in top condition.
In the Kingdom of God, the body knows that should the enemy capture it (malnutrition, exhaustion, disease, illness or accident etc.), the Monarch's abilities diminish considerably. If his forces are unable to act, the Monarch is then helpless to effect good government in the Kingdom of God. The true worth of the body, what it does best, is to help the Monarch make his dreams and visions come true. In the Kingdom of God therefore, the state of one's health is of prime concern to the Monarch.
Your Highness, you are the first and the greatest treasure in the Kingdom of God. Genesis 1:31. tells us, "God saw all that he had made, and indeed it was very good." I invite you to write this text and place it on the mirror you first look into in the morning and the one you last look into at night. When you see yourself on the morning of a brand new day, read it and remember how very special you are. Remember that God made you in His image and that He saw how very good you are. Then live that day as a child of God, full of excitement and pride in a Father who loves you so. When you see yourself at bedtime, read it and remember how very special you are. Remember that God made you in His image and that He saw how very good you are. Then, as a child of God, rest that blessed night, full of peace and pride in a Father who loves you so.
10.18 The bottom-line.
Anything you attempt to do, any career you try to fulfill, any state of life you embrace, any goal you set, if any of these things are pursued without your baptismal robe, without your royal crown, without your unyielding sword, and without the royal troops, your precious gift of life will be filled with heartbreaks, disappointments and unfulfilled dreams. You will never realize the joy of reaching and surpassing your potential.
On the other hand, if you face creation and eternity wearing your baptismal robe, your royal crown, your mighty sword, with troops ready to do battle, you will attain heights and conquer kingdoms that you never thought possible. Christ's Light in you will eradicate the darkness. Hearts that have turned to stone will again beat with love and compassion. Thousands will be rescued from slavery because of who you are and the authority that you have in your King's name.
Before you do one more thing, wash away the soil and dust of the foreign lands you now live in; put on your baptismal robe, your royal crown, take your mighty sword; gather your troops, then, with the Light of Christ to guide you, restore creation for the greater glory of your heavenly Father, wherever you may be in His Kingdom.
Footnotes.
1 Luke 22:19-20.
2 Luke 22:20.
3 Psalm 90:4.
4 Luke 22:20.
5 Matthew 20:28
6 Acts 8:33.
7 1 Corinthians 15:55.
8 Romans 6:10-11.
9 Romans 8:1-3.
10 Psalm 8:4-5.
11 City of God. See permissions page.
12 1Corinthians. 7:29-31.
13 Revelation 1:1-3.
14 2 Corinthians 5:17.
15 Revelation 21:8.
16 1 Samuel 2:8
17 Isaiah 62:3.
18 Genesis 1:27.
19 John 1:18.
20 John 14:9.
21 John 14:12.
22 John 15:10-11.
23 Matthew 12:37.
24 Hebrews 1:3.