I’m so glad that every time I mess up, God does not record my violations, my transgressions, my sins in a notebook. I do some pretty dumb things at times. I make mistakes…I sin. Don’t you?
We hurt others with our words, we sting some with our actions. If God kept a record of all our sins, we would be like a man wearing cement shoes in the middle of a lake, in a sinking boat with no help nearby. We’d be goners!
But here is the Good News, God offers us forgiveness. He is willing to pardon us, to set us free, to shout “NOT GUILTY!” Although I know I’m guilty, He forgives me and proclaims I’m not guilty. He is able to free us from our regret and guilt.
Picture yourself standing in court, as that notebook of your sins are read to those in the courtroom. God is the judge, we are standing with our head down, and Jesus stands up. He moves forward and takes the notebook of sins, looks at us and tears the book into shreds of paper. He looks at us and says, “I died to defeat these sins. I defeated death, so that you would be free.”
We look at Jesus, humbled by his love and confess our sins, and ask for forgiveness. He looks at God and says, “I’ll take the penalty upon myself.”
God looks at us and slams the gavel, proclaiming “NOT GUILTY!” Forgiven.
We are free to walk out of that heavenly courtroom forgiven. But there is more! We can’t continue to keep breaking the rules without reaping some serious consequences. God knows that. We now belong to Jesus Christ and His Spirit walks with us from that moment on!
He rescues us with His amazing grace. He free us from guilt and resentment. He gives us peace and power!
We now move forward in a radical response to God’s amazing grace! How do we keep moving forward…..see you Sunday….