Not in the Doghouse, in the Morgue
by Jill Southern
I wonder how many of us realise the extent of our need for a Saviour. It seems to me that unless we feel a great need for a Saviour, we don’t feel that Jesus Christ is a great Saviour! When you listen to the news, and hear people speak, you notice there’s often no fear of the Lord, and no sense of the great need of a Saviour. Man feels he can do everything he needs to do. He can sew fig leaves for himself, and fix everything himself.
We need a Saviour who can forgive our sins and take away our punishment, but that’s not the whole story. The reason we need a Saviour is not that we’re in the doghouse with God and need to be forgiven for offending His glory. We need a Saviour because we’re in the morgue!
In the doghouse, and on the naughty step, you might whimper and say “sorry”. You might make some new resolutions. You might decide to cast yourself on the mercy of God. But what can you possibly do if you’re dead, in the morgue?
We don’t just need an ordinary Saviour – we need a great Saviour! By nature we’re ‘deserving of wrath’. Rebellion runs in our DNA. Left on our own, our default mechanism is to sin! ‘All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath’ (Ephesians 2:3).
In being alive to disobedience, we’re dead to obedience. In being alive to rebellion we’re dead to godly submission and to the Lordship of Christ. In being alive to unbelief we’re dead to faith.
Our great Saviour, Jesus Christ, came to give us a new nature! He breathes into us a spiritual life, so that our hearts will be changed forever. Only then are we drawn, by the Spirit of God, to trust Him and obey Him.
We’re made to be in intimate relationship with God. Jesus said if we love Him we’ll obey Him. He’s worthy of all our love, trust, honour, obedience, thanks and worship. We can only do this by the power of the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in us richly. Jesus said ‘Let him who is thirsty come, whosoever will may come. Let him take the water of life freely’ (Revelation 22:17). Let’s come to the water of life and drink.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for breathing new life into us through the power of Your Holy Spirit, and saving us from a life of disobedience, rebellion and unbelief. We exalt Your name and recognise what a great Saviour we have in You, and that we now have an inheritance in the kingdom of God. Thank You, Jesus, we can now lay hold of the Covenant promises made to Abraham. Thank You that the gift of eternal life is ours through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Jill Southern is the founder of Ellel Ministries Pierrepont and directed the work for 21 years. She has recently stood down from that role but still teaches on the NETS programme and has the passion to train and equip God`s people to fully walk in their destiny and calling. She is the Regional Director for Ellel Ministries International in South East Asia and China and is also on the Executive Leadership of the ministry.
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