Devotion 14 - Home Coming

One of the most wonderful and fascinating features of God’s creation is that God created animals with an incredible sense of direction called “the homing instinct.” Against all odds, salmons swim home from the sea to spawn in the rivers of their birth. After flying thousands of miles, the swallows return to their nests year after year and every year thousands of tundra swans and snow geese make a 4,000-5,000-mile journey back to their homes. There are also documented cases of dogs and cats traveling hundreds even thousands of miles over a period of weeks and months until they find their way home. Did God create humans with a similar “homing instinct?”

Eccl.3:11 – “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts…”

To paraphrase it, God has put a longing for heaven within each of our hearts. Deep in our hearts, we know there is something more to this life. For that reason, we are never satisfied, no matter how much we have achieved on this earth or how much possession we have accumulated, we are always reaching out for more…something to fill up the unknown void.

C.S Lewis has put it aptly, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

There is an empty space within each one of us that only God can fill, and our hearts are restless until we find that rest. It’s called a ‘Homecoming instinct’. However, we don’t need to die to be ‘Home’, we can enjoy the comfort, peace, joy and security of Home while we are living on this earth. In other words, we don’t need to live with an orphan’s heart, we can enjoy the warm of family on this earth.

Understanding the Work of the Cross

Rev.5:9 – “And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood…”

1 Pet.1:18-19 – “You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot…”

We are redeemed and saved by the precious blood of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. If God is only concerned regarding our salvation and our eternity in heaven, there is no need for Jesus to go through the humiliating and extreme suffering on the cross, with nails piercing through His hands and legs, wearing the crown of thorns on His head, being mocked, whipped, stripped naked, etc. All He needs is to live a sinless life, die and shed his blood, and we are saved. The Scripture is very clear, we are made righteous by His blood and blood alone. Why then did Jesus need to go through all that suffering on the cross?

Heal our Brokenness

Isa.53:3-5 – “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief…Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”

Jesus was described as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief during His earthly life. He was despised, rejected and even betrayed by his very own disciple.

What is the most common and deadly illness in society today? Brokenness – the sickness of the soul and mind. Jesus came to experience the brokenness of humanity that He might restore us into wholeness of mind and soul through our salvation.

Lk.4:18 – “…He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted…”

Many of us grew up in dysfunctional families and suffered great love deficit in our growing up years, feeling rejected, abandoned and lonely. To survive, we all learn to put on a ‘false self’, looking perfectly normal and functional on the outside; but inwardly, our tears of sorrow and pain flow continuously, crying out to be loved and understood. Hence, many today are in despair and hopelessness; suffering from depression, social anxiety, and all kinds of mental illnesses.

Jesus came to mend and heal all brokenness so that we might experience joy and abundant life again in Him. If only we let Him! Sadly, many have not learned to surrender their brokenness to Him and receive a new life from Him. Our identity “In Christ” is the only antidote!

Heal our Physical Body

1 Pet.2:24 – “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”

Yes, Jesus did not come just to save our spirit and restored our soul, He suffered physically, that we may also receive physical healing through Him. We need to appropriate this truth by faith for ourselves and for others. Experiencing physical and miracle healings is included in our salvation.

To Break the Curse upon our Life

Acts 5:30 – “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.”

We all know Jesus died on the Cross - so why did the scriptures change the cross to tree?

Deut.21:22-23 – “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,  his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.”

Gal.3:13 – “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’…)”

For simplicity’s sake, the cross equals the tree as the wood is from the tree. Thus, His purpose of dying on the cross is to break every curse in our lives so that in Him we can experience complete freedom and enjoy the abundant life. In a sense, nobody is a jinx. In Christ, we are all blessed to be a ‘fountain of life’ to bless others.

Heal our Orphan Heart

Matt.27:46 – “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

While Jesus was on this earth, He never suffered an orphan heart because He was always connected to His Father. When the first Adam was cast out of the Eden, he was indeed ‘homeless’ as he had lost the presence of the Father. However, when the second Adam left heaven, He was never ‘homeless’. He was Home though away from Home because He was never separated from His Father.

However, when on the cross, He was forsaken and abandoned by the Father and suffered an orphan heart. Yes, the Father has to turn away from Him because at that very moment, our sins are laid upon Him. Beyond dying for our sins, Jesus also came to die as an orphan so that we might be restored back to sonship. Because of Jesus, we are no longer orphans today, we have been restored back to the presence of the Father!

1 Jn.3:1 – “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!

If we should go visit an orphanage, we may, out of compassion, donate a large sum of money to ensure that the orphans are well provided for. However, if we adopt an orphan and bring the child home, that is commitment. We are now personally involved and responsible to guide, nurture and bring the child up. Likewise, the love of God for us is not limited to our destiny in eternity, God the Father has taken the responsibly to guide us and lead us to fulfil His plan and purposes for us on this earth.

Heart of Sonship - Homecoming

The orphan spirit cannot be cast out, only the spirit of sonship through Jesus Christ can replace it. The only way to break free and heal from the orphan spirit is to be filled with a sense of the Father’s love. We must feel the security of being ‘home’ with the heavenly Father and knowing that we are being accepted for who we are in Christ. Then, we can grow into mature sons and daughters who serve God out of knowledge of His undeserved grace instead of trying to earn the Father’s love through performance.

Eph.2:5-6 – “When we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…”

Today, in Jesus, we sit together with Him in the heavenly places; we are ‘Home’. We have a family; we have been restored to the warm bosom of our loving heavenly Father. A home is not only a physical structure, but a place where there is the assurance of guidance, unconditional love and acceptance, the warmth of joy, peace and abundant life.

We are created to live in the presence of our Father. We can never be satisfied or feel secure till we find the way back to our Father. Through Jesus, God is opening all the doors of the orphanages and calling his children to come Home. Will you come Home?