The Sinner God Accepts
I am clean through the blood of Jesus Christ. In deed, if
the blood of Jesus does not cover my sin, I am eternally doomed.
What the Jewish sin offering taught by metaphor, Jesus
Christ fulfilled in perfect reality.
The animal chosen for the sacrifice on all occasions was
spotless, without blemish, and sinless.
The person offering the sacrifice placed his hands on the
head of the animal and while pressing down confessed his sins symbolizing a
transference of sin and guilt from the offender to the innocent substitute
victim. It is as if he put the sin and its consequences on the head of the
animal that was to die in his place.
The priest then took his knife and killed the victim that
was entirely consumed by fire symbolizing God’s judgment.
The LORD God made Jesus Christ an offering for sin. The
moment we put our hands upon His head by faith and see Him being offered up on
the cross for our guilt, we know that our sins have been transferred to Him, and
we are free of our guilt. We are clean through the blood of Jesus Christ.
God must punish sin. “The soul that sins will surely
die.” “The wages of sin is death,” declares the Bible. Sin deserves and
demands by its very nature that it be punished. Because God is holy, sin must
be punished.
We have sinned and are like wandering sheep.
God in an act of grace provided and accepted a substitute for sinners. The
Bible says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John
3:16). This verse teaches us that God spared not His only begotten Son, but
freely delivered Him up to death as a sacrifice for our sin.
“God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us.” The overwhelming infinite love of God the Father sent the
innocent Son of God to the cross to die for sins.
What we receive from God is the pure, rich, free, sovereign grace of God in
Jesus Christ.
Because God is a righteous person, He must punish sin. That means He must
punish you and me for our sins unless someone else who is spotless, pure, and
sinless will suffer and die in our place. That is what Jesus did for us. He
suffered in the place of all who have believed on Him, who do believe on Him,
and ever shall believe on Him. Jesus Christ was the only person who could be
qualified to die in the place of a sinner. If Jesus had ever experienced
personal sin, He could only have died for Himself. Because He was sinless, He
could and did die as our substitute.
Moreover, the death of Jesus Christ is all-sufficient. As God dying for
sinful man, He never has to die again. His once-and-for-all sacrifice is
all-sufficient. There is therefore no second death for those who believe in His
atoning death for sin.
God made Jesus an offering for sin. “The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity
of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). A sovereign decree of heaven declared Jesus the great
substitutionary sacrifice for His people. God provided the lamb for His own
burnt offering. God provided His Son as the perfect sacrifice for our sins.
God’s appointed sufferer died in your place. The justice of God was satisfied.
God made Jesus to be a sin offering for you.
The eternal effects of the atoning death of Jesus are now complete and
perfect. The atonement of Jesus Christ was so complete that He nor anyone else
need ever suffer again. The good news is there is now complete pardon and
forgiveness for every person who believes in Christ. You dare not add one
single thing to it. You do not need to do anything to make the atonement of
Jesus Christ sufficient to save you. Pardon, full and free, is yours by
believing on Christ. Yours past sins, your present sins, and your sins to come
have all been laid on the head of your divine substitute who died in your place.
“The wages of sin is death,” and Jesus Christ died that death for you.
But not only that, God has placed His royal robe of righteousness upon us!
No rags of yours are needed to complete or perfect what Christ has done for us.
Christ has perfected forever those who are set apart in Him. The believer is
complete in Christ.
“You are complete in Christ,” C. H. Spurgeon once said. “No tears of yours,
no penance, no personal mortifications, nay, no good works of yours are wanted
to make yourself complete and perfect. Take it as it is… ‘He that believes on
Him is not condemned.’”
God provided a perfect sin offering. Come as you are, just as you are to
Christ. “When God accepts a sinner, He is, in fact, only accepting Christ. He
looks into the sinner’s eyes, and He sees His on dear Son’s image there, and He
takes Him in.”
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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