"God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood —to be received by faith."
Hi friend,
How do you do? This morning I wanted to share something that's a bit more direct with you; as I myself began to receive a bit of a download on it. It has to do with what Jesus Christ's sacrifice really means to us. The blood He spilled in our stead.
Let me begin with a question to ask you, if you have been a long time born-again believer or a new and recent born-again believer...how much do you stop and think about "The Blood?" Maybe if your like me, not as often as you think about your morning coffee, the chores on your priority list, or last nights game!
The reason that our view on "The Blood" matters as much is because it determines how you view yourself in light of the Cross and your relationship with God. If Christ is the Center of it All, and He is. Then we must find out what the Bible teaches, on "who" we are based on the shedding of His blood. Therefore, He has made us righteous in God's eyes. Have you ever heard of the statement...
"You are the righteousness of God, in Christ Jesus"
Well, that actually is in the Bible found in 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) and it reads a bit like this:
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,
that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
In Christ, we are not to be afraid of looking at our selves because, what we see is not ourselves, but the blood that covers us and changes us. The people of God are exactly like that, "People of God." No longer, a people of wrath sentenced to die a cruel death because of our lack of measuring up. So its been settled. We don't measure up. And we wont. He does, so through Him; we are the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus. He who knew no sin, became sin. That we may have His righteousness (right-standing-with-God) instead of our very own righteousness. Furthermore, 'what we believe, is what we see.' NOT, 'what we see is what we get.' Let me expand a bit more on this saying, that it is no longer about the "do" but about the "who" as Bible teacher Joyce Meyer puts it in her recent books (see link for details). And truthfully, sometimes that is a hard thing to get. That we are not approved by our Heavenly Father based on what we do, but based on that we are His.
This is truth, that our concern ought not to be our merits to grant us right standing with Him. But the belief that He (Jesus) has brought us back to God (Ephe. 2:13). We are now children of God. Who don't have to do in order to be approved by our Heavenly Father, but just be. Be in Christ, as Christ is in us. Now we have a new song, and we ought to sing it daily. The joy and freedom that comes from this truth is everlasting. No longer tossed to and fro, but grafted into His family. A part of God's elect. A people redeemed by Grace. Amen? So what do you say, let's start to sing this song, based on "The Blood" that was spilled for our stead. We should have gotten what we deserved, but instead we received His grace and mercy through faith in Christ. The God who is Love, saving us to always be Loved with an everlasting love, healed and made whole.
What can wash away my sin
nothing but the blood of Jesus
What can make me whole again
nothing but the blood of Jesus
Let's pray:
Thank you Father, for giving Your precious Son, Jesus, for our salvation. Thank You for allowing us to become the righteousness of Christ the moment we first believed. We thank You because it is complete. And we are now also called friends of God. What a joy, and a privilege to be called the redeemed of the Lord and His Sons and daughters who now can sing a different song. Ah yes, our hearts rejoice. Amen and Amen.
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