Topic: Celebrate, We Will! – Discover the Book by Dr John Barnett  9 April  2023

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Celebrate, We Will!
By: Chelsey DeMatteis

“He must increase, I must decrease.” – John 3:30

As we have just walked through the Easter season, looking at Jesus and His life, I find myself so often wondering what it would’ve been like to be there watching his life happen. We read through Scripture and we glimpse into amazing things about Jesus’ life and all that happened to those around him. I get chills when I think about watching his display of love, grace, truth sharing, and obedience to whatever his Heavenly Father directed him to do. So, each Easter season, I find myself in a posture of awe and wonder. The hope-filled joy of knowing who holds the pen to the pages of my life and who walks alongside me through all my seasons. This my friends, is good news.

If you’re like me, I love thinking of Jesus’s whole life, not just his years of ministry. I can hardly imagine watching Jesus take his first steps as a wobbly toddler or watching him walk up to be baptized by John the Baptist or to see him feed the 5,000, or to have the honor of hearing Him teach the Sermon on the Mount. All of these amazing things we hear and picture but wow, to actually see them in the flesh sounds like such a gift, a gift that I’d give just about anything to see.

And while that would be an amazing gift, I am reminded that we have the greatest gift of living on this side of the cross. This side of the cross allows his Spirit to live inside you and me, this side of the cross is where death has no more sting. The gift of living on this side of the cross is a gift that we cannot overlook. We have the Word of God in written form that we are able to dig into to learn more about who our Creator is, what his son’s life was really like, and why we needed a Savior to take our place.

It’s sitting in that awe and wonder that I am reminded of one of my favorite verses, one that has changed my life forever: John 3:30. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” These are seven life-changing, powerful, needed words spoken by John the Baptist. These seven words continue to be a reminder to me of the gift Jesus is to all of us daily. Because of Jesus and His life we are able to live our lives in the posture of decrease so that our lives increase in Him. How amazing is that? Our Heavenly Father sent His perfect, sinless son Jesus to come and take on the penalty of all we would ever do just so we would have the opportunity to be made right with Him and live eternally together. This leaves me speechless. Jesus had to come and take on all you and I would ever do so we could be eternally right with God forever. He had to.

What a powerful, all-consuming love story this is and it’s offered to you and me. We get the choice to accept Christ and all His life was, is, and is to come. Because, Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection is what tethers us to eternity. Without one part of it, there would be no opportunity to have the gift of grace and mercy. There is no defeated grave without the cross. The magnitude of John 3:30 carries so much importance of who Jesus is and what His life means to us. Everything He calls us to is so that our lives would be ones that soak up the goodness of God and all He has for us, this means we have to decrease. His life calls us to not be afraid to pick up our cross and follow Him. It calls us to love Him more than anyone or anything and walk to always hand in hand with His spirit as we point others back to Him. This is what an increase of Christ looks like in our lives. When we die to self to make Him known. This is what we get invited into, and this my sweet friends is something to celebrate and celebrate we will.

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