2
Peter 3 : 9, The Lord is not slack
concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward
us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
NKJV
When was the last time you heard a sermon that was
centered on the “Cross of Christ?” Anytime I think about the love of God and
how He placed all of my sin on Jesus, and the sin of every person born into
this world, I am humbled. At the cross of Jesus there is personal forgiveness,
as well as forgiveness for all mankind for all generations.
Have you stopped to consider all that God did for us
on the cross where Jesus hung? We were guilty, yet the Father forgave us. Jesus
was innocent, yet it pleased the Father to lay upon Him the iniquity of all
mankind. Long before you and I were born, Jesus had already paid the penalty
for our sins against the Father. Does this mean that everyone is going to
heaven? No. It does mean that they way has been made for every person to enter
heaven but not all will choose to accept the free gift of eternal life.
We are to acknowledge the death of Jesus on the cross
as payment for our sin, while we confess our sins before Him. Why do you
suppose the Father chose to expiate our sin debt in this manner? God knows that
Satan operates through the power of condemnation and works to hold people in
bondage. God by-passed all of Satan’s schemes when He laid all of our sin debt
on Jesus and has given to us the free gift of eternal life.
If you struggle with guilt and shame as a child of God
even though you know you have been forgiven then remember this one truth. You
were saved by faith apart from your own works. Guess what? You walk in that
same saving grace by faith as well. If you begin struggling with guilt, shame,
condemnation to the point that you can’t obey God’s will, then know that these
are indicators that tell us we are slipping from walking by faith and have gone
back under the law of works.
While on the cross, Jesus asked the Father to forgive
mankind because He knew that we had been blinded by our sinful ways. The power
of forgiveness breaks the bondage and the blindness of sin off of our hearts
and lives. Do you need to be free from condemnation and guilt today? Ask the
Father to forgive you and to fill you with His unconditional love and for
Christ sake He will.
Forgiven in Christ,
Pastor Asa Dockery
Pastor Asa Dockery
No comments:
Post a Comment