"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." - Isaiah 61:10
This is the verse my husband, Rob, used to propose to me. Embarking on the journey of marriage and all of its accompanying joy is what prompted me to start this blog. But, being engaged, planning a wedding, becoming a wife, and now a mother isn't ultimately the reason for my rejoicing...
My real, unchanging, everlasting, indescribable rejoicing comes from my righteousness in Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:23 tells me "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and I am living proof that this verse is true. I am NOT perfect. I do NOT have it all together. I fall SO FAR SHORT of God's glory and His standards for my living and breathing and being. Peek into the secret places of my heart and you will find pride, despair, idolatry, greed, selfishness, anger, a judgmental spirit... sin. This is my natural heart, born in the likeness of Adam. Romans 5:12 says "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—"
When my sinful heart stands alone in front of God and His glory I have no hope. There is only death for me. Condemnation. Separation from my Creator. The destiny of eternal wrath. Romans 6:23a says "For the wages of sin is death..." For 21 years of my life I lived in rebellion against God and on a path headed for destruction.
But, thanks be to God, He didn't leave me (and He doesn't leave you!) alone in the hopelessness of sin. You see, the second half of that verse, Romans 6:23b, contains the amazingly good news I desperately needed nearly 10 years ago, and still need every single moment of every single day... "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
A gift... eternal LIFE... in Jesus.
How can it be?!
2 Corinthians 5:21 says "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
He, JESUS, the King of the universe, the Lord of Lords, the Son of God, my savior... He took MY SIN, was crucified on the cross because of it, and gave me HIS glorious righteousness. All of this is done as a *free* gift. It cost me nothing. It cost Him everything.
So, I rejoice because I have been moved from death to life. I rejoice because I have been transferred from the domain of darkness into light. I rejoice because in the sigh of my Heavenly Father, I am no longer clothed in my filthy sin-soaked-rags... but I am covered in the robe of Jesus' spotless righteousness.
My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." - Isaiah 61:10
This is the verse my husband, Rob, used to propose to me. Embarking on the journey of marriage and all of its accompanying joy is what prompted me to start this blog. But, being engaged, planning a wedding, becoming a wife, and now a mother isn't ultimately the reason for my rejoicing...
My real, unchanging, everlasting, indescribable rejoicing comes from my righteousness in Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:23 tells me "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and I am living proof that this verse is true. I am NOT perfect. I do NOT have it all together. I fall SO FAR SHORT of God's glory and His standards for my living and breathing and being. Peek into the secret places of my heart and you will find pride, despair, idolatry, greed, selfishness, anger, a judgmental spirit... sin. This is my natural heart, born in the likeness of Adam. Romans 5:12 says "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—"
When my sinful heart stands alone in front of God and His glory I have no hope. There is only death for me. Condemnation. Separation from my Creator. The destiny of eternal wrath. Romans 6:23a says "For the wages of sin is death..." For 21 years of my life I lived in rebellion against God and on a path headed for destruction.
But, thanks be to God, He didn't leave me (and He doesn't leave you!) alone in the hopelessness of sin. You see, the second half of that verse, Romans 6:23b, contains the amazingly good news I desperately needed nearly 10 years ago, and still need every single moment of every single day... "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
A gift... eternal LIFE... in Jesus.
How can it be?!
2 Corinthians 5:21 says "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
He, JESUS, the King of the universe, the Lord of Lords, the Son of God, my savior... He took MY SIN, was crucified on the cross because of it, and gave me HIS glorious righteousness. All of this is done as a *free* gift. It cost me nothing. It cost Him everything.
So, I rejoice because I have been moved from death to life. I rejoice because I have been transferred from the domain of darkness into light. I rejoice because in the sigh of my Heavenly Father, I am no longer clothed in my filthy sin-soaked-rags... but I am covered in the robe of Jesus' spotless righteousness.
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