Bathe before you bath please! What???

I know what you’re thinking. That title sounds a little ridiculous and redundant. Well, you are not wrong! It does sound a little ambiguous, doesn’t it? Can you imagine with me for a minute. Imagine my son outside doing what 10 year old boys do best - Get dirty. He came home from school the other day absolutely covered in the very stuff Adam (the guy at the beginning of the bible) was made with. Dirt! I’m thinking to myself, “where on the school grounds is he finding such a jackpot (to him it is anyways) of dirt to roll around in?” He came through the door of our house with a bang just after getting off the bus, and the first image I could conjure up was that of a miner. A coal miner! Now minors are dirty. They don’t have to try and get dirty. It comes with the territory of working underground handling coal and other dark forms of rock. Anyways, I’m standing there thinking, man, we need to plastic wrap you just to keep you clean and fresh for your journey back home at the end of the day.” Wow!

Yes, I, like most parents, have kids who love to endow themselves in dirt. They even celebrate it when you point it out to them. It’s like their laughter is saying “sucker! Now you have to clean this up. Oh and by the way YOU’RE WELCOME!” (Insert huge sigh here) But imagine if I said to my son, “son, now, before you get a bath I need you to get a bath. Yes buddy, you heard me correctly. Before you jump in the bath that is designed to clean you the first time, I need you to get a preliminary bath first before the main event of getting a bath.” If he’s smart, which he is, he’s gonna turn to his dad and say, “that makes absolutely no sense!” And, he’s right! It makes no sense whatsoever! The purpose of getting a bath is to not get another bath (lol!). It’s humorous isn’t it!?

I understand certain events in society have a preliminary event before the main event like MMA fighting, rock bands that do small shows that lead up to much bigger shows. It’s like a debut album tour. Sports such as hockey, basketball, baseball, football, etc. have what they call pre-season games as an initial tune-up before the regular season begins. It’s purposeful. The preliminary event gives players and performers an opportunity to feel out the nature of the game after a long offseason. It helps them prepare their bodies and skill for the “big dance” (the main event). There’s observable and applicable reason for the preliminaries.

Back to my son and his dirty self (sounds like an awful way to refer to someone you love lol!). I’m referring to the self that he has made dirty. To make the demand “get a bath before you get a bath” is implying that I don’t trust that the first bath will be enough and therefore, a second bath will have to do what the first bath failed to do. Two things will happen here in direct response to my demand; one, my son will argue and complain about the validity of having to take a bath in the first place. Secondly, bath number two to my son will seem unnecessary and clearly stupid. Why? Cuz he’s trusting that the first bath will be enough, as the first bath has proven to be enough in the past when he’s gotten filthy. So, as a dad I would have to say, “yes, you are right my son! One bath as you have had it in the past was, and still remains to be enough right now.” One is enough!

There’s this statement in the bible “once for all”. It’s found in the book of Hebrews (I call it the “ONCE FOR ALL” book). One of the statements goes like this, “For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.” So, what does this mean anyway? Well, before Jesus came there was a system in place. It was called the sacrificial system. It was an event where the priests would come before God once a year, kill a bull or goat (a clean one), and offer it to God (hoping he would accept it) for the forgiveness of his sin and the sin of the people of Israel. This happened once a year. But this system wasn’t perfect. It depended on human effort and the blood of animals to get it done. Something with permanency was required. Enter Jesus stage right.

This man Jesus was sent by God to die for the sin of the world, once and (you got it), for all time! Jesus, sacrificing himself on the cross one time was enough for global sin past, present and future. His act of dying was enough once, and for all (people). No need to repeat. To say it wasn’t enough would be saying we need a do over because we’re just too sinfully dirty and Christ’s blood missed the mark on the first try. Jesus died once and for all, no mulligan’s needed. We think that when we sin as believers, we need to throw Jesus back on the cross for another shot at cleaning us up. That’s Nonsense. Just like a second bath wasn’t needed for my son to be clean, a second crucifixion isn’t needed to be forgiven MORE. You are clean! Do yourself a favor and rest in the fact that a second bath isn’t needed. We have been completely forgiven. No do over’s. Once was, and is, enough. You have all of Jesus you will ever need right now.

Think about it!

Pastor Trent

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