The first words out of Jesus mouth after the resurrection...
"Mary, Don't hold on to me, I have not yet ascended to my father. Go to my brothers" (not disciples, not servants, not wanna bees, but now BROTHERS) "and tell them I ascend to MY father and YOUR father, MY God and YOUR God."
We read this this morning and I then told my Mary on my way out the door...
"So Mary...We get to have the same relationship with the father that Jesus had."... thinking I was on to some really good news.
But I was wrong!
It's actually better than that!
It is so much better than I could have imagined!
This isn't something we get to have... some day,
something we need to grow into or work at.
It isn't about achievement!
It isn't something we hope to one day experience.
This is something we already have!
It's a done deal!
It's our starting place!
A PROMISE KEPT!
Jesus accomplished this for us just as he promised and it has nothing to do with us.
No prayers, no fasting, no reading of the good Book, no tithing, no sweat...
(although it is well explained in the good book.)
I don't get to have a relationship with the father... some day.
I am immersed in it as we speak.
The cross didn't just give me the potential for relationship.
It accomplished it!
I now have Jesus relationship with his (and now my) father, a son to a truly good father. ...a relationship with Father God himself...the relationship I always dreamed of.
Sin has lost it's power.
My nature has been transformed.
Forgiveness is now my natural response.
Healing now flows from my finger tips. ( I try it out quite often on Mary)
Graciousness is my new temperament.
My heart now brims with hope.
Love overflows.
Obedience is more natural than disobedience.
Nothing is impossible!
All of heaven's authority is now at my fingertips.
The Promise...
"And Greater things... because I go to the Father..."
Fulfilled!
"I ascend to My Father and Your Father...Go tell my brothers"...
Mission accomplished!
So the journey is no longer about achievement. It is now about discovery!
Never ending discovery... shock and awe at every turn in the road!
Now and into eternity...
