Infinitely More

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1 NIV

This past Sunday we had the privilege to have Alex Krutov share his story at at Creekside. His story started in apparent hopelessness – disposed of at three days old in a garbage dumpster in St. Petersburg, Russia. It seemingly did not get much better for a long time.

An orphan, abandoned and neglected, he was introduced to the person of Jesus and embraced his new identity as the beloved of God – an identity bought by God, salvation. Sometimes here the word “salvation” and we limit it to Jesus’ death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. While this amazing act of love did in fact accomplish that, his work on the cross, his life and his resurrection accomplished so much more. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10). The Message paraphrase says “more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” That is why Jesus came, that is what Jesus bought.

This “more and better life” is so often misunderstood, so often defined by a lack of hardship or difficulty. And so when hardship comes we dismiss Jesus and his words, “this is not more, this is not better – I need to look elsewhere.” But more and better life is not dependant upon the circumstances of our life. It is dependent and flows from our identity and the hope, which that identity brings. This is such a hard concept for us to understand. How can I have more and better life if my marriage is going bad, how can it be more and better if I get diagnosed with cancer, where is the abundance if I am estranged from my child?

Hardships will come; difficulties will come – most often in unexpected ways and at inconvenient times. How will you survive if your world is crashing down around you? The answer is only when you are anchored – planted and nourished – into Jesus and his deep and unchanging love for you. As we clear away space for the INWARD journey toward Jesus we make space to rest in and be convinced of our identity as his beloved so that when the hardships come, we will not be crushed by them – Jesus is not a panacea that paves the way for an easy life, rather he is life itself, in the midst of both hardships and joys.

Peace, hope and love

Doug