All in Forgiveness
We don’t enter into heaven to live an eternal life because we deserve it. That kind of thinking is based upon our own vanity and arrogance. Our salvation and ever lasting life is sealed by covenant, and that covenant comes by God’s acceptance of the death of Jesus Christ as our blood sacrifice. Only through Him can we be redeemed, perfected, and sanctified. Only through Him can we claim the covenant of grace.
Do you feel grief today before God? Is your heart breaking within you for some sin that convicts you unrelentingly? I am not speaking about a superficial knowledge of having done something wrong, but rather the understanding of a sin that emanates from your very soul. Are you seeking repentance for wrongdoing that has brought you to godly grief?
For a God who created the universe, breathed life into man, and on more than one occasion raised the dead... what is death? We are so small, and our experience so limited to this body, and this existence, that all of our judgements have become founded on this little slice of reality that we inhabit. As we look at life and death through a drinking straw we convince ourselves we know what it is; do we? Let’s take a high level look at death...
When we first meet Him, God doesn’t just rush into our lives, He treats us much like I learned to treat stray or feral dogs and cats when I was a boy. When I meet an animal for the first time I approach it very slowly, and when I get close I stop, and all the while I just talk to it in a soft reassuring voice.
Jesus didn’t come to earth to redeem us because He felt sympathetic love, He came at the Father’s request to do a job, and that job was to defeat sin, and glorify God Himself. His task was to mend the rift between God, and man who He created, by the only way possible... His sacrifice in death.
Do you see God the Father as a gentle old grey haired man who forgives you regardless of what you do and without regard or memory of what you are? Well that isn’t so. Without the horrific and yet wonderful sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ we would be lost, because God’s very nature would prohibit His overlooking our sins. Our forgiveness is a supernatural event without precedent, that cleanses the once permanent stain of sin.
What sins do you have in your life that have enslaved you? Do you have an overriding desire for something that drives you to commit sin, or a need in your life that makes you complicit or vulnerable to sinful things? Either way, we have been enslaved, and our sin will rule us until we can find emancipation from it. Sexual predators are in the news again right now... let’s take a look.
Has Jesus changed your life? Has He altered the very core of who you once were, or do you put Him on like a change of clothes each day to cover up the nakedness of sin that still exists underneath? We often portray one thing publicly, and then retreat into a private world that is quite different... is this you? Are there things you hide beneath your veneer of faith?
How often do we sin, then confess and ask for forgiveness only to find purity before retreating once again into that selfsame sin? How many battles must we fight with an adversary before they are at last declared defeated? Do we ask God to heal the wounds of sin, but neglect to ask that He fight for us?
We have been purchased with the very blood of Jesus, and have come to know Him. We have been baptized in water, and then again in the Holy Spirit as it was poured over, and into, us... born on the sweet breath of Christ Himself. Yet still we can find the allure of sin to be too great. How can this possibly be?
Are you in search of the “things” of your life; you know, the thrill of your life, the job of your life, the experience of your life, and if you are so fortunate, the love of your life? These are all examples of the “things” that we seek after. These are the “things” that we believe will make us happy, but be honest with yourself... we all do this to some degree, and are you ever truly happy when you think you’ve found them?
How great was the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? Have you ever stopped to consider the unfathomable depth of His accomplishment? Maybe you can get a glimpse in your mother’s loving eyes.
Do you have a gift to offer God, but you just can't find the right moment to give it to Him? Are you standing before the altar with doubt in your mind wondering if He will receive your offering? Is your spirit unsettled and in a state that keeps you at arm's distance from God's will in some matter? In moments like this there is something not right... there is emptiness of spirit... listen as the Holy Spirit directs you in clearing away the obstruction.
How many little things of faith have you left unaddressed? I dare say the major items are either solved or you are working with God on them, but have you overlooked the small and seemingly less important nuances to your walk with Jesus?
Is your house quiet this morning, and are all others asleep? Can you hear every little noise as the furnace ignites and the walls and floors pop and crack while settling into their new warmth? Can you hear your spirit whispering deep within you as it calls out..."Father, Father."? When we are still, and the world is hushed, the sounds of heaven become audible to us... this is the time for intimate conversation and spiritual embrace; this is the realm of eternal prayer.