10/07/2023
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 as you look into your mother’s loving eyes.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV
I was reading Oswald Chambers this morning and he made a statement about Christianity that I had not stopped to consider. I thought I had mulled over most every major aspect of our faith, but this was a new thought to me. Here is what he said:
“Other religions deal with sins; the Bible alone deals with sin.” - Oswald Chambers
This thought swept me into the very sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the enormity of what He did for us. While other religions are looking at each individual sin, Jesus died to remove the heredity of sin, the very institution of sin, from us... and more.
What does this mean to me? Well, it tells me that I have been set aright in the eyes of God and that the choice of committing sin or not committing sin has been returned to me... not born into me. Certainly He has provided for our forgiveness of the individual sins we choose to commit, but much more than that he has removed the underlying burden of Adam’s loss of mankind’s innocence.
There was a boy who was given a hand me down shirt from his older brother. The shirt was supposed to be white, but had yellowed over time and had several very bad stains on it. The boy brought this to his mother’s attention and told her that he was embarrassed to wear it. The mother took the shirt and began to work on it. She soaked the stains in a concentrated stain remover and let the shirt sit overnight in a bleach solution. All of the stains didn’t come out easily so it took a great deal of time and effort before at last the shirts was bright white and without blemish. It was as if it were new.
The boy was more than pleased, he looked forward to wearing that shirt to school, and the next day that was exactly what he did. He told everyone who would listen about the shirt. He told them that it was his brother’s, and about how his mother had transformed it from a yellowed mess to the bright white they saw now! The shirt was his pride and joy.
During recess the boy was extra careful not to get any dirt on his shirt, but despite his best efforts he was hit in the face with a kickball and blood spurted from his nose onto his shirt. He was devastated. Arriving home he walked into the house expecting to see disappointment on his mother’s face, but instead she hugged him and said “Let me have the shirt.” The boy moped all afternoon and evening, and as he prepared for bed he prayed that God forgive him for ruining his shirt and that the stains could somehow be removed from it.
The next morning he heard his mother calling him to breakfast, so he slowly rolled out of bed, and headed towards the kitchen, but when he turned towards the door there hung his shirt... bright and clean; without a spot on it. His mother had worked all night to remove the blood stain, and now there was no sign of it. The shirt was once again like new.
This is what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. He first cleaned the age old stain and blemish from us and returned us to a bright white by the passion of Jesus. And then He made provision for the new stains we might put on our shirts by applying the memory of that same act of grace and love to remove them.
Jesus didn’t give Himself on the cross to save us from our individual sins... he gave himself to conquer sin in its entirety. Will we lead a sin free life? I doubt that very seriously, but through the application of Jesus, and the grace of the Holy Father, our shirt will never be ruined beyond His ability to repair it. Each morning we will rise to find a perfectly clean shirt to wear.
Prayer:
Father I thank you for the grace you show us through your Son Jesus. I thank you for not only cleansing the ramifications of Adam’s sin, but each of the sins I commit individually. Holy Father your will is perfect and your intentions for us always good. Like the mother in my story you returned the shirt of Adam to perfection, and now that it is mine, you have made provision for any new stains that I might place on it to be removed. I thank you for your mercy and I thank you for the grace by which you apply it to me. There is nothing I can do to cleanse myself from sin, but through Jesus Christ I am washed clean. I love you Father, and when I am embarrassed to reveal my shortcomings to you, you lift up my face and in my sorrow and contrition Jesus says “Let me have the shirt.” I cry Father as the blood spills onto my shirt, but not for my own pain, but at the thought of disappointing you... thank you for loving me despite my sins, and for dealing not only with them individually, but with sin in its entirety. You have chosen to forgive the unfathomable sin of Adam, and each day you forgive me. Praised be your name, and Holy,, Holy, Holy are you! Your mercy and grace know no bounds!
Rich Forbes