“I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defenses of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn’t have to destroy it. I couldn’t find anyone."
Ezekiel 22:30 (MSG)
Man had to repair what man destroyed, but no one was found fit for the task. Reading this passage I can't help but see the Father searching all over the earth, hovering over the waters and the land just like His Spirit did in the beginning. Searching for someone who could stand in the gap for people's sin. Someone without sin, who was willing to lay down their life for people who wouldn't even consider doing the same. Knowing that men were born into sin no one could be found. It sounds like a hopeless case, almost like situations that you might be facing now. A dead-end road, no cure for the disease, no answer to all those questions and silent prayers...
Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2 (AMPC)
It's all about Jesus, dear friends. God, became flesh and willingly laid down His life. He decided to stand in the gap for us. The Author and Perfecter of our faith became flesh and stepped down to be that "someone", our Savior.
What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.
Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.
Galatians 2:20-21 (MSG)
We are in Christ and because we have Him as our perfect example, we can now stand in the gap for others through Jesus. When we understand our position in Christ and the authority that is in us through Him, we long for others to have an intimate relationship with Him as well. The Good News of Christ, the fact that there are no dead-ends, there is a cure. We as believers in Christ now have the opportunity to stand in the gap, to plead for their lives to call them to salvation and grace through love and faith, just like Christ did when He stood in the gap and pleaded with the Father for our sake.
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
James 5:16 (NIV)
Being righteous means that I am in right standing with God because I am standing in Christ. When the Father looks at you, He sees you through Jesus. So when we realize our position and authority in Him, our prayers will be powerful and effective.
He raised us up with Christ the exalted One, and we ascended with him into the glorious perfection and authority of the heavenly realm, for we are now co-seated as one with Christ!
Ephesians 2:6 (TPT)
When you buy a camera, but only use it as a decoration on a table, you're not using it for the potential which it was created for. You need to read its manual, you need to exercise and practically apply the theory that you've read. In the same way, we were made for so much more than we can ever imagine. Calling ourselves followers of Christ while we're sitting in a corner as decoration is not what we were created for.
I encourage you to read God's love letters to you in His word, not out of religion, but rather out of a pursuit for a deeper relationship. Find your true identity and purpose in Him, let it build your faith.
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
Romans 10:17 (NIV)
You are no longer slaves or mutual friends to God, you are a child of the living King. Princes and Princesses, you are royalty. Step into that identity and step into the gap for others in Christ, through righteousness.
Where I'm standing - Phil Whikham ft. Brandon Lake (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMPAfIdXi98)
Know You Will - UNITED (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOpdRYEs6zg)
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