Who Is Building?

Luke 14:27-30 (NASB) ²⁷ Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸ For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’  This portion of Scripture keeps coming back to me, and as I meditate on it, the emphasis changes and deepens. 

Jesus came to cut the covenant with the Father that would open a deeper relationship with Him at a time when Israel was not ruled by a king but by the religious rulers under Caesar.  These were so immersed in the ritual, or works, of the Law they ignored the purpose of the Law was to bring them to God, Who promised them the Messiah and a better covenant.  By ignoring the Voice of the Spirit, they saw only the work of keeping the Law.  By ignoring the Voice of the Spirit, we see only the condemnation of not measuring up because of not recognizing God's provision of a greater salvation.  God is not asking us to "build an access to God" as men did when they built the tower of Babel.  God built the bridge to Him by sending His Son.  Jesus IS the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Psalm 127:1(NASB)  Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.  When we do not see the completed work of Jesus, we fail to see the door that is opened to us.  The children of Israel stood outside of the promised land and said, We cannot enter.  Because of their lack of faith to trust God to fight for them, God swore they would not enter His Rest.  Because we wallow in condemnation and guilt, we do not enter His Rest.  His blood has never lost the power to save and deliver to the uttermost.  We overcome our own weakness and the condemning lie of Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.  We identify with the finished work of Jesus to take us into His likeness, His inheritance and His joy.