Confronted with reality

What Jesus Christ accomplished is real – its not potentially real, its not theoretically real, its not legally real – it is simply real in the most fundamental and absolute way.  He is the ultimate representation of the reality of God and the ultimate representation of the reality of man. What He accomplished is nothing less than the reconciliation of God and man. His accomplishment is not potentially real, its not a thing that one can take or leave. You were in Christ, in His death, in His resurrection and in His Ascension.  In Christ you are confronted with the reality of your salvation.

He is both God’s act of salvation toward man and simultaneously man’s response of faith to God. The old covenant was found lacking in this very aspect – its dependence on man’s obedience. So God activated His master plan in which He would complete and finish the work of salvation – in which He would act from both directions, as God and as man.

This does not take away the need for personal faith, rather it intensifies it! Let me illustrate: If I was to read a newspaper article of the most imaginative tale, which ended with an invitation that said: “For this story to be real, all you have to do is believe it.” That does make a demand on my faith, but not a very convincing one. However if a story was told and presented in such a way that the reality of it was almost visible before my eyes, such a presentation makes a much greater demand on me to respond.

I’ll say it again: In Christ you are confronted with the reality of your salvation.
Salvation is not a product that’s for sale. Salvation is the accomplishment of the Saviour.
The gospel is not a sales pitch in which we promise some great reward in exchange for your faith and/or decision. The gospel is the good news about an event in which God accomplished for us and on our behalf what we could never do ourselves.

When we see the reality of God’s opinion of ourselves and how that contrast with the reality of our experience it creates a confrontation: do we want to live in God’s reality or continue in the chaos and deception of our own opinions.