unlocking the second prison

the yellow ribbon project seeks to engage the community in giving ex-offenders a second chance at life. it hopes to inspire a ripple effect of concerted community action to support ex-offenders and their families.

september is yellow ribbon month. more information about the yellow ribbon project and events in the month of september can be found here.

to me, the yellow ribbon project is about God restoring creation to reflect His glory. giving ex-offenders a second chance happens to fall under this category.

conviction without rehabilitation is like the cross without the resurrection. they must go hand in hand.

the cross marks the end of the Old Covenant - 'it is finished' (John 19:30, NIV). through the cross, God unlocks the first prison of sin and redeems creation.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

- Romans 8:1-4 (NIV)

the resurrection marks the beginning of the New Covenant - 'this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you' (Luke 22:20, NIV). through the resurrection, God unlocks the second prison of death (ie. not sin, but the wages of sin) and renews creation.

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

- 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 (NIV)

to be released from the first prison of sin (through the cross) is to have life after death. to be released from the second prison of death (through the resurrection) is to have life after life after death, as n.t. wright likes to say.