I am not a righteous man. tells me this. I don’t truly fear the LORD, nor do I greatly delight in His commandments. In fact, I seem to sin more than do good. I am prideful in my sin against God. Although I want to do good, I often don’t. I’m rarely ever gracious and merciful. I hate men in my heart and I covet what other people have. I’m not a grace giver, and my pride keeps me from being a humble grace receiver.
I do not deal generously. When I do give it’s always with the taint of grumbling and selfishness. The idea of lending without expecting a return is a hard concept for me. Bad news scares me. Hard times frighten me. My heart quakes and my soul shakes when faced with the unknown. I’m scared about the future and I have a hard time trusting the Lord when I am forced to deal with things outside of my control. I’m stingy with my possessions. I don’t give to the poor. When I see the poor man, I am repulsed and I shy away from him.
I’m a wicked man. In my soul no real righteousness dwells. My offspring won’t be mighty in the land, and if left to me, my generation would not be blessed. My righteousness does not endure forever because I have no righteousness within me. My heart is moved and I will not be remembered forever. I will be forgotten. I will not triumph over my adversaries in my righteousness. I will not endure forever and I will not be exalted in honor.
But God sent His Son for me. Christ, the Righteous One, died for me. Christ kept the Law for me. Christ suffered for me.
In Christ my sins are forgiven. In Christ my heart is made new. In Christ my affections are changed. In Christ my desires and will are completely remade. In Christ I am covered by His Blood. In Christ I am clothed with His Righteousness
In Christ we will endure forever. In Christ the Light dawns for us. In Christ we are truly blessed. In Christ we are remembered forevermore, by God and for God. In Christ our hearts are held firm by His Pierced and Steady Hands. In Christ death is defeated and bad news has no power over us. In Christ our Enemies are defeated.
He’s the Savior of the poor, broken and downtrodden. He’s the Salvation of Sinners and the Hope for the Lost. His Righteousness endures forever and He is forever exalted.
I once saw Christ and I was angry. I gnashed my teeth at Him and hated Him. Yet, my desire perished. My heart was remade. Christ defeated me and made me new. I am born again, in Christ, and I am forgiven.
There is perhaps no more powerful expression in human experience than the Story. It grabs our imagination and entices our intellect. A good story does to language what music accomplishes in a somewhat different way: it allows us to feel the ideas that words express as well as consider them rationally. The Story, the Ballad, the Parable allows us to think and to feel and to relate and to consider. Great stories posit great Truths, but they also allow us to express and imagine those great concepts. They captivate our creativity, using both the mind and the heart, the analytical and the sensual and the emotional.
In the biblical narrative of Christ’s birth, life, death and resurrection we can know some things. Christ was born to a human mother. Jesus grew and learned. He preached and ministered. Jesus never sinned and He died and He rose again. These things can be known analytically from the Biblical accounts. Yet, in Narrative, I can feel the joy and excitement of Jesus’ birth. I can sympathize with my High Priest who first sympathizes with me. I can feel horror and disgust at His scourgings. I can mourn with His disciples at His death. I can weep at what my sin did to my Sin-Bearer and Savior. I can experience pure exultation and surprise at His resurrection and I can glory in His exaltation. Through narrative I can indeed know the objective truths of Scripture, yet I can also feel and more fully understand those Truths, in Christ.
