Empty Grave

~ The Love Grave ~

Your jealously for me
Your sweet love for me
It is as deep as the grave where you laid
And gave your life as a ransom for my own

But you call to me
O death where's your sting?
Arise my lover, come forth be clean!
O Hades and hell, show me your victory

You have set me free
The grave cannot hold love
Your Blood has bought me
You have set me free

~Nikki Caldon
April 16th 2006

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I wrote this song in reflection of today being Easter. I was sitting in church today while the pastor was preaching, when my mind started to wander. (it often does that, hmmm . . .

) It's not that his message was boring, rather, I was just pondering some of my own thoughts about what Jesus really did for us. It's romantic love story really. I'll let you into my wandering and deep thoughts during church today. . .

When God made us He wanted relationship with us, and He wanted us to love Him back freely. (Men, don't think that God is homosexual, it's a Father son/daughter kinda love) He didn't want us to walk around like robots, as puppets on a string; instead, he wanted us to choose and accept His love by our own free will. He also wanted us to have all of the benefits (kingdom rights) of being His children - Children of the King of the universe! (we're royalty folks, all of us!) Well, thanks to the beginning guy and girl of all time, ya know, Adam and Eve, they kinda screwed things up for us.

See when Satan came to tempt them in the garden, it wasn't simply the fact they ate an apple that they weren't supposed to. See by choosing to eat from the tree that they were forbidden to eat from, they we're really accepting the lie of Satan, the lie that says that we don't need God, we can be our own gods!! (wow, that's kinda like my 5 year old saying, mom, umm, yeah, thanks anyway, but I can drive a car, pay my own bills and raise myself just fine thanks, I don't need your guidance!) By accepting that lie they were separated from God. They could no longer have a close meaningful relationship with the choice they made. They no longer had the benefits of being children of the King. It grieved the heart of God so deeply, that he sent His own first son, Jesus, to show us how deeply God longs for relationship with us, to show us the way back home and to "reverse the curse" for Adam's decision, for all of his decendants who want to know God their Father. See without the covering of our dad, God, we are poor in spirit and are not under His protection. Why do you think there are so many self - destructive people in this world? Because they don't know who they are - Children of the King! And if they know who they are and still don't choose to love God, they are removing themselves from all of the love, protection and benefits of being children of royalty! So back to what I was saying, Jesus sees all of God's children as His bride. I think Jesus chose to call us his bride because it is such a beautiful picture and description of how deeply He loves us - not because He wants physical intimacy with us, but a deep heart - felt love. (yes guys you are bride's too, but don't worry, you don't have to wear dresses!!) He loves us so deeply that He went unto the King, (our Father) and asked to fight for His bride. Envision this, Jesus is in shining armor, sword in His hand and He comes before the King, kneels before Him and asks for permission to fight for His bride and seek after her, to rescue her from sin, sickness and death. (our "benefits" for choosing NOT being under our daddy's covering) He also came to fight for us and to take victory over the one who seeks to destroy every part of our mind, body and spirit, satan himself. Satan has been trying to sabatoge us from the beginning! So the King grants Him permission to go and fight for His bride. God gives Jesus everything He will need for His mission and off He goes, destination - EARTH! He takes human form, walks with us, eats with us, makes human friends like us, has human emotion like us, feels pain like us. (And yet, somehow we still think God doesn't know how we feel as humans!!) And then He does the ultimate, He dies and pays the blood sacrifice, necessary for us to be freed from the Adamic curse. See, Jesus Himself became the ransom, the ultimate sacrifice needed to free us from the curse. But love was stronger than the grave and so 3 days later He arose from his own death! He wanted to prove that death could not hold him from the ones He loves, us. When He went to the grave, he buried all of the bad things we've ever done, or had done to us and He left them there, in the grave! No longer for you to have to carry around guilt, shame, sadness. By Him dying for us, we now have the freedom to have relationship with our Father again, and receive all of the benefits of choosing to live as Sons and Daughters of the King - true love, kindness, mercy, grace, compassion, true forgiveness, healing, purpose, ect.!) But the choice is still up to us . . .