2005-06-24 - Almost Perfection

Heb 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. (NASB)

In July of 2000, a British-French Concorde airliner crashed near Paris. Until that day the words used to describe the operating history of the airplane included: flawless, trouble-free and perfect. A few days ago and other storied plane experienced a very rare crash. A U-2 spy plane crashed returning to land in the United Arab Emerates. This aircraft, living a more hazzardous existance, had a nearly perfect record as well. Most of us have heard of Nadia Comaneci. As a young gymnast competing in the Olymipic games, she was awarded the first score of 10 in the history of the games. The word used to describe the score: perfect.

The truth is that nothing in this world is perfect. Everything we know or see in this world will eventually fail. Our cars will breakdown, our bodies will die, etc. Our knowledge of the world around us is limited. And we make mistakes even within the knowledge with which we are familiar. Some would say this truth is sad. The fact that perfection can not be attained in this life is probably a good thing. It means we will always at least have the opportunity to continue to strive to improve.

We are told in the Bible that there is only one perfect: Jesus Christ the righteous. Though His perfect life, He was able to become the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. God required a blood sacrifice to atone for sin since the time of Adam and Eve. The animal offered had to be without blemish. Each one was inspected by a Priest. If a problem was found with the animal, another had to be selected. The fact of the matter is that each of these animals, no matter how good they were, also failed to meet the ultimate goal of perfection. The were part of this fallen world.

But Jesus was born of a virgin, conceived as the Son of God so that the fallen nature of mankind was not passed to Him. Jesus lived a perfect life committing no sin. He was tempted in ways that we can only begin to understand and did not sin. When the Lord died as our sacrifice, in our place, He paid the satisfied the sin debt we owed. When He rose on the third day, Jesus broke the power of death and opened the way for humanity to live in eternity with God.

It is not my intention to diminish the efforts or records of anyone. My own imperfections allow me only to point to Christ. As we compare Jesus' perfection with our own very best efforts, we simply fall short. We can not make it on our own. We are born into a fallen world, imperfect from the start. His perfect life is offered in exchange for ours so that we can enter Heaven. Ask Him to be your Savior if you have not already. He stands ready to accept anyone who comes with a broken heart, knowing they can not reach perfection without His help. And while we do not become instantly perfected, the process begins and we have a role model to follow.

Grace & Peace,
Mike

mhoskins@cfdevotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org