10/04/2021
In the book of Acts we read Peter’s sermon, and he makes it clear who Jesus was, and who the people had put to death on Calvary by shouting “Crucify Him!”. What fear they must have felt when they finally realized what they had done, because they were people who lived under a law that called for retribution… an eye demanded an eye in return. So, was there any wonder why they didn’t want to acknowledge who Jesus truly was? Why they resisted the truth of the Messiah? Do you fear Him today for the same reason? Do your sins cause you to quake, and to call His gospel a myth? Well, let your fear be stilled because if you will only believe, then your sins will be forgiven by His blood, and you will be made pure before God.
“Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.””
Acts 2:36 ESV
Jesus was crucified, and He died, but that isn’t the end of the story. His blood redeems us from sin, and on the third day, He rose from the grave to conquer death. His blood has become our sacrifice once and for all, but to claim it we must accept Him is our Lord; the Christ. This is who Jesus is today, He is the risen Christ, our redeemer, the lamb of God, and He has fulfilled the old requirement for an eye for an eye by His blood sacrifice; He has forgiven us from the cross, and given us eternal life by the grace of God which flows through Him. He took the old law that read…
“But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”
Exodus 21:23-25 ESV
And he fulfilled that law once and for all with His own blood. Listen to His words, and how he has rewritten this precept for us…
““You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Matthew 5:38-39 ESV
Then later, Paul writes of these words in his letter to the Romans, and tells them that only God is to judge, and avenge…
“Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.””
Romans 12:17-19 ESV
Jesus fulfilled the law, and this is why He came, and took on flesh. He didn’t come to condemn us, or to avenge, but rather to save. Every moment of His life moved the world closer to where we are standing right now, at the cusp of our own personal moment of redemption. Even those who beat Him, whipped Him, and crucified Him, and especially you, and me, who have feared to look at Him, and to face God, because of our sin, can find forgiveness, mercy, and a renewal of righteousness, if we will only believe in Him.
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
John 3:17 ESV
When Peter preached, and Paul wrote to the Romans, we were made to fully face our sins, but more than this we were shown the forgiveness in Christ that now allows us to return to God, and claim the forgiveness and life that has replaced the conviction and death we once would have expected. Listen again to Paul, and rejoice, without fear, in this moment of our salvation…
“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:22-23 ESV
Where once we knew fear, we are now given joy, and where once our sins reached their crescendo on Golgotha, we now hear the silence of God from the cross.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for relieving us of the fear we once found in the conviction of our sins, and replacing it with the joy we find in your Son Jesus Christ. Thank you for his blood that cleanses us, and His resurrection that lifts us from our own graves to everlasting life. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who saves the sinner, and calls the dead from their graves. Merciful are you who sent your Son to suffer and die for us while we were yet sinners, and praised be your name for every one of our sins, great and small, that Jesus was made to bear on the cross that we might be forgiven them. We lift Him up in song, prayer, and praise because He was without sin, yet made endure sin for us. Great are you who before the foundation of creation brought forth your plan for our salvation. Wonderful is your goodness that relieves us of all unrighteousness, and makes us perfect in Christ. You turn our pain, sorrow, suffering, fear, and the humiliation of our sin, into righteousness, and judge us worthy through your Son of spending eternity with you… all by our belief in Him, and love for you. Praised be your name always, and forever!
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.””
John 3:16-21 ESV
Rich Forbes