God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not counting their sins against them. He is the payment for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world. Our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with. The death that He died, He died to sin once for all. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood. God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin. He condemned sin in the flesh. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! All of the the preceding are exact Bible quotes that say sin was taken away, died away, or paid for through the death of Jesus. Friends, do you think God did something about sin? Do you think maybe He had a passion for not just forgiving sin, but for actually taking it away from us? Do you think He saw sin as a major problem and dealt with it? Yes. Yes. And again, yes. And, as I said in my most recent previous status, if we believe our sin was taken upon Himself by Jesus and away from us, we will begin to behave as if it is so. It will lose its dominion over us. Not by our deciding to behave differently, but by believing differently about ourselves based solely on what He did for us. I know some of you look at me and scratch your head and wonder why I talk about Jesus all of the time. This is why. Nobody else ever did anything more for us. No other person ever had or ever will have such a powerful effect on the course of our lives. You dont think that having your sin taken away from you is a big deal? Think again, my friend. It is huge. And it does not make you into a weirdo. It makes you happy. It gives you a hopeful attitude. I makes you easily able to forgive others. It makes you really believe that God is on your side. That He cares about you and took a personal interest in you. If you think that kind of thing is weird, then you are weird. The truth is that life was meant to be enjoyed, but it cannot be enjoyed when we are plagued by our sins, shortcomings, weaknesses, or whatever you call them. And it cannot be enjoyed if we find ourselves being bugged by and criticizing the foibles of others. It can be enjoyed if we begin to grasp what it means to have been made in the image and likeness of God. It elevates our self esteem, but not to think ourselves better than others. We will begin to see others in the same exact light. Not our betters and not below us, but equals. Brothers and sisters, just like us, in the image and likeness of God. But none of this can happen when our sins and theirs are in the way. That is why Jesus took them. God certainly knew what He was doing there. I have said many times before that believing in Jesus is the single most practical thing anyone can ever do. Maybe now you can see more clearly why that is so.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 12:40:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015