Man has a sin problem in which he has a sin nature that keeps him from reconciling with God. Because God has requirements that man cannot meet through the law, what then is our resolution? How does man reconcile with God? Consider the following three words as a resolution to our sin problem.
First an atonement (to make amends for sin) is necessary and therefore Jesus died on the cross to provide it for fallen man. The scriptures tell us that without shedding of blood there is no remission. (Heb 9:22) and that Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. (Heb 9:28) This historic death of Christ was the blood sacrifice given for the atonement of mankind. His payment to God for the sins of man is the keystone which holds everything together and we remember the cross of Christ everyday of our life. A Christian will feel obligated to personally identify with the offering that was made on our behalf.
The second word is repentance, which is brought about by the sorrow we feel when the Holy Spirit shows us how far we are from the Kingdom of God. To repent means we will change our life in order to please the Lord. Paul tells us that godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation (2 Cor 7:10) When we have a radical change of attitude toward God it will cause a totally new life for us. Jesus tells us to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The Holy Spirit regenerates us as we continue to maintain our grateful attitude and have faith in Jesus Christ. The turning from our natural ways of sin to the righteousness of God is called repentance.
The third word for a solution to our problem is justified, which means that God will accept us into his family just as if we had never sinned at all. Some people believe the Judge will set them free from their sins but it is really more than that, because we will never stand before the Judge at all if we are His child. Actually God repented from his wrath toward us and granted us his grace because of Jesus Christ. We now belong to Jesus and you could say that Christians are being judged during our service on earth. The Bible says, when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. (1 Cor 11:32)
We must never forget that our freedom came at a terribly high price and our liberty must be used for God's service. Now we can see the gift of Jesus Christ as the center of God's plan for us. Jesus has provided everything needed to regenerate the eternal life of mankind and this reconciliation to God is what gives a Christian their great hope for eternity.
No comments:
Post a Comment