Painted Faces - the masks people wear

Broken Vessel - intro to new book

Are you, like me, a broken vessel? You see, in reality we all are. 

In the beginning, God created mankind in His image. Different from all else in creation, he made us like Him, in His image. To have communion, companionship, with Him. Like Himself, He made us with body, soul and spirit. Just as He is three in one, so too are we. In His likeness, we were formed to reflect Him. Like an intimate kiss or Māori hongi, He breathed a part of Himself into our nostrils - a demonstration of His intense all encompassing love for us, His family. No other creature was made this way.

What does this mean?

We were made for God. For His pleasure and company. We were made like Him (in His image) so that eventually we could commune with Him like no other. He wanted more than our worship. He wanted our friendship. He wanted family. In the garden we walked with Him, had His trust and friendship. We belonged with and to Him.

That is until we messed up. 

So easy to do, and we've been doing it ever since all through the ages. We brought sin and all its consequences into the world and changed it forever. We gave up closeness with our creator for - what? 

Wrong choices are so easily made, and as in the garden, we have continual temptation and prompting from our accuser - the devil himself. 

The Lord recently reminded me that we are all broken vessels, but in the potter's hand we can be made new. Beautiful, redeemed and useful once more. 

If we were not broken, we would have no need for Jesus and the sacrifice He made for you and me on the cross. 

Jesus wants to take the broken pieces of our lives and re-form it into a masterpiece, a beautiful, whole vessel able to do the job we were intended to do - and to shine as a light in the darkness to a broken world as we do it. 

God sees the possible - He sees us as we should be, not as we are. He knows what we can do, what is possible for us even when we can't see it. 

None of us was a mistake, not meant to be here. A "waste of space". 

None of us was meant for evil. 

None of us is hope-less. Unless we want to be.

The cross has become our symbol of hope. Even for those who don't believe, it is placed on gravestones as a symbol of something better - hope of meeting once more. Why is that I wonder? The cross was a Roman form of death by torture. We do not revere the hangman's noose, wearing it on a chain around our necks, keeping it close, so why do we wear crosses, place them on the roadside where loved one's have died - to remember and hope?

 To remember and hope.

We can have hope because the cross represents what was not just another horrible death; it was the most horrible death of all, but through it we are redeemed. 

On that cross a man died, but not just a man. 

On that cross our creator died, but not just died. 

On that cross, our creator died with every sin every human throughout history will ever and have ever committed resting on His shoulders. He did this so that He could take the payment of this sin - eternal death and separation from God - in our place. He really was the only one who could do that. Human, but son of God, He was sinless. A perfect, unblemished lamb to fulfill, and worthy to be, the final sacrifice. 

And the catch that Satan didn't see coming? As the perfect sacrifice, He was able to conquer death on our behalf. He rose - there are secular recordings of this - and walked again, alive, on this earth.

He did this for you and me - because He so longed for that companionship again, that family relationship. It was the only way to have us back. 

He did it so that He could pursue us with an offer - redemption. 

We are all still lost in our sin unless we accept His offer. He can't and won't force it upon us; why would such a treasure be given to anyone who doesn't want it? Surely then it would hold no value.

Reaching out to Him, answering His call, accepting His gift and acknowledging our need for it, means we are then made new; like the potter's broken vessel. We are clothed in His righteousness, not our unrighteousness. Our sin is removed, we are clean and able to commune again with God. We are again His family, having all the rights of one adopted. We have hope and a future, an eternal future of life, not death.

Does this mean we can no longer sin? Sadly, no. In this world it is in our very nature. But we are covered by Jesus' sacrifice still, so long as we repent and confess it to Jesus and ask His forgiveness. Intentional, determined, unrepentant sin will break the relationship with the Lord and may cost us our salvation.

Knowing how difficult this would be for us, when Jesus left He sent His Holy Spirit, our comforter, to live within us and guide us towards understanding and repentance. With Holy Spirit as our anchor, depending upon His guidance and prompting, we can move forward. 

We can trust that in a world not our own we have a way through. 

We can live for our Saviour and the hope we have in Him.

We can sift between right and wrong.

We can make mistakes but not lose everything.

We can face temptation and win.

We can walk in compassion, not condemnation.

We can relinquish the past as we live in the present.

We can look to eternity, not just tomorrow.

We can walk confidently towards the freedom He bought for us, because He holds our hand as we do so.

Will you walk with me, as I walk with our Saviour, on this freedom journey?