Confessions of a "Phantom of the Opera" Lover...

After watching one of my favorite movies of all times recently I am left with a few thoughts. Permit me, if you will, to share some of them with you.

1) A kiss is very powerful. It can save your true love from being hanged by an evil, ugly, yet misunderstood being.

2) If you hate mirrors to the point that you want to cover them up or angrily smash them with a candlestick, why would you build them in your evil liar? I mean, you designed it- couldn't you have just not put them in?

3) Gerard Butler's voice when he sings "Music of the Night" is intoxicatingly sexy (sorry guys, but its true)

4) There is no reason why you can't sing at all times of the day. It seems the best way to express your feelings.

And finally last but certainly not least...

5) Everyone (including a phantom) can be redeemed.

It's this last one that I'd like to focus on. Because you see, I'm a firm believer that everyone has at least one redeemable quality if you look hard enough. But I know that a lot of people don't believe that's true. Call me ignorant, stupid, naive, whatever, but I still hold to the fact that people can change. Sometimes they just need someone to give them the chance. But I know that ANYTHING is possible with God, so why would I not believe that He could change their heart?

But all this aside, it gets me thinking. How gracious it is of God to redeem us. Because think about it, what have we got to offer?

So what is redemption you may ask? Well according to one Noah Webster it is "The action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment." I like this definition simply because it uses the words regaining possession. It relates more to the fall of man. We were in unity with God in the garden and then man fell. But Christ's blood brought us back and now we are restored if we choose to accept the gift. Think about it, that's a pretty big restoration- from complete unity to total doom back to complete unity. Romans 7:14 tells us that we were a bonded slave sold to sin. How strong is the love of Christ if He is able to break that bond? And not just break it, but defeat it!

Think about how much work it would take to redeem just one person from this kind of situation. And yet Christ redeemed the whole world. (1 John 2:2).

I think today Christians in general have lost the "awe" factor of the cross. We focus so much on the resurrection, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, that we often neglect the true meaning of the cross. It wasn't just the spot where Jesus died. It wasn't just a mandatory means of death so Christ could rise again. This was the place for all the shame. This was where He separated himself from the Father and declared, "My God My God, Why have you foresaken me?" (Matt 27:46). This was where Christ took on all the sin of man and declared, "It is finished." Paid in full. By dying on the cross He had set in motion the complete enactment of the finished work of God's intent for the restoration of mankind.

So it leads me back to that first question, why? Why us? What have we got to offer? I draw a blank. I am left without any thought, except one- love. It was all motivated by love. Humbling isn't it?

"So I'll cherish the old rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down. I will cling to the old rugged cross..."