Day 11 What is the Gospel? “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them… He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor.5:17-21) I still remember the day I took my oath as an American citizen. I was 16 years old standing in the midst of other immigrants making our pledge as new citizens of our country. My mother became a citizen the year before and if my father had done so, my sisters and myself would have automatically been classified as citizens, but he chose not to become a citizen. For me to be able to witness and participate in that ceremony, I am grateful that he didn’t. Now I am a citizen, fullness in privileges, fullness in responsibilities and fullness in protection. Similarly, that is what we have in Christ- and that is the key to salvation. Many would ask, “What is the gospel? What does it mean to be saved?” In the simplest explanation- it is about identity- that a person is in Jesus Christ. To be in Christ is to be cloaked in His righteousness. The imputation of His righteousness took place on the cross. He died for our sins and at that point a trade was made, our sins for His righteousness. We must be certain of this fact, when Paul writes, “He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin” that does not mean Jesus sinned or in essence became a sinner. Rather, Jesus was willing to take the punishment of sin upon Himself, the wrath of God, so that we could receive the consequences of His righteousness- to be reconciled to God! Yesterday’s devotional focused on how one can only have a relationship with God if one was holy, separated. Our holy state can only be attributed to having Jesus’ righteousness imputed upon us. The basis of this marvelous truth offers the hope of the change of being a new creature (v.16) old things have passed, new things have come! Remember when Moses approached the burning bush (Ex. 3) he was warned by God that he was standing on holy ground. Trepidation was the rule of the day. Now, our approach to God is very different, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God… let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace” (Heb.4:13,16) For those who trust in Jesus for dying for their sins, their identity is no longer “sinners” but “believers.” We are now “in Christ.” Pray right now and thank God for His gracious gift, His only Son in whom we are now righteous. May God bless you. - Pastor Sung
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 20:16:52 +0000
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