An Excellent Analogy

I was reading in Bill Johnson's  A Life Of Miracles: A 180-day Guide to Prayer & Miracles this morning.  I loved this analogy:

    "...We have nothing without the Cross! Yet the Cross is not the end--it is the beginning, the entrance to the Christian Life.
     Suppose I had been forgiven a financial debt.  It could be said I have been brought out of the red.  Yet after my debts are forgiven, I still am not in the black.  I have nothing unless the one who forgave my debt gives me money to call my own, and that's what Christ did.
     Why is this important?  Because it profoundly changes our sense of identity and purpose.  Jesus became pour that I could become rich.  He suffered with stripes to free me from affliction, and He became sin so I might become the righteousness of God…"

     The Western church has only taught part of this equation--that through the Cross Jesus has made the way for us to go to Heaven, but missed the important message--that He provided the means whereby we could partner with Him in bringing Heaven to earth.  Did He not tell us to pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven"?  So many people have been brought out of the red but don't realize there is a substantial sum deposited in their bank account to use while on earth.

     Lord, open our eyes to the riches of our inheritance through your sacrifice on the Cross.