From Guilt to Grace

You may wonder what this picture of a cat has anything to do with the title, so let me say this cat's name is Grace. And Grace, too, has... "the earnest expectation of the creature" that "waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." (Romans 8:19) For all creatures were made to praise the Lord. When I go to see my grandson, Grace longs for attention, and in a small way, she is like me when I go to my Abba Father. She loves for me to pay her some attention and soon starts rumbling with purrs of joy. In the same way I am happy when I realize that my own guilt has been put away thanks to Another, who bore it for me. Knowing that I am loved perfectly brings me all the peace my heart longs for. And it was all from a free gift from the One foretold to come from the beginning of human history.

David, who only had the Torah, somehow understood this gift of free grace when he wrote in Psalm 32:1:

"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered."

David was guilty of murder in the first degree when he had Uriah the Hittite killed in the line of battle after he himself impregnated Uriah's wife Bathsheba. David walked around for a good while knowing he had committed this grievous sin but not acknowledging it before God. The man who was said to "be after God's own heart" had blood on his hands. It was only after the son borne from their adultery was taken that he came clean after a visit from the prophet Nathan.

Nathan told him the story of a rich man who had been given nearly everything he wanted and a poor man who had only ewe lamb. The rich man decided all he owned was still not enough and stole the poor man's ewe lamb away. When David heard this story, at first he did not recognize that it was about him. He said to Nathan:

"...As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die..." (II Samuel 12:5)

Then Nathan revealed the truth to David saying, "Thou art the man." (II Samuel 12:7)

It was this experience that David wrote about in Psalm 32. Somehow, he knew that God would provide a sacrifice to forgive his sin and cover his guilt. He knew this, even though Christ had not yet come into the world. He knew and relied upon the promise that his forefathers in the faith also relied upon. In the first book of the Bible, the sacrifice to come was revealed to Abraham and Isaac upon Mount Moriah.

"And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering..." (Genesis 22:8)

This same concept is revealed in the New Testament in the little word "aphiemi." This word is used in Mark 2:10, which speaks of the Son of man having the power to forgive sins. What Adam forfeited when he chose his way over God's in the garden of Eden, the Son of man came to fully restore. There are 88 references in the New Testament to the Son of man, Jesus Christ.

We can have peace in a world gone beserk from knowing that Christ has come and taken away our sins, which is one of the definitions of this word, "aphiemi." In my Zodhiates Hebrew Greek Key Study Bible, it says of this word (#863 in the Greek Lexicon to the New Testament): "from apo from and hiemi to send. To send away, dismiss...The expression "to forgive sins" means to remove the sins from oneself. Only God is said to be able to do this.(Mark 2:10)"

“But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic,“I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

Zodhiates continues: "To forgive sins is not to disregard them and do nothing about them, but to liberate a person from them, their guilt, and their power."
(Emphasis mine) Definition from page 1672 in Hebrew Greek Key Study Bible, compiled and edited by Spiros Zodhiates, ThD, AMG Publishers, 1986.

I only touched the tip of the iceberg on the concept of our sins being taken away by Christ's atoning sacrifice. You might also be blessed, as I am, in finding all the references of Jesus as the "Son of man" in the New Testament. One thing I know, I do not have to live with yesterday's failures, or to try to do something good to make up for something bad. I only need to look away from myself, to Another.

Psalm 89:15 "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance."

Reader, do you know the joyful sound today? Put your faith that what Christ did was enough, and walk in the light of His countenance.

It's My Birthday and I'll Rejoice 'cause I want to

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. Revelation 1:7

I am 53 years young today. The Lord has given me a heart to rejoice because He is my Savior and Lord, and I believe that He is coming back soon.
And so, I list 53 things He has given me to celebrate today because of Jesus' precious gift of salvation to me, in no particular order. (These can belong to anyone, anywhere, anytime who chooses to believe in the Son of God for eternal life.)

1) He loved me.
2) He washed me from my sins in His own blood.
2) He made me a king and priest through Jesus.

Rev. 1:5-6
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

4) I am a member in particular of the Body of Christ. "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular." I Corinthians 12:27

5) No eye has seen the things He is preparing for those who love Him, but they are beyond what we could think or imagine.

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." I Corinthians 2:9

6) My sins (and all those of everyone who believes in Christ) have been cast into the depths of the sea. Love this verse from Micah: "He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea." Micah 7:19

7)His eye is ever upon me to watch over me just as He watches over the sparrows.
Luke 7: 25-27 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

8)He will never change His mind about me. “For I am the LORD, I do not change;
Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob."Malachi 3:6

9) He gave me living water to drink and promised that I will never thirst again. John 4:10 "Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

10)Right now, this very moment, I am a child of God.

11) One day I will be like Him, for I will see Him as He is.

"Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." I John 3: 2

12)I am going to a place where there will be no more tears, sorrow, crying or pain, no matter what I face in this life.
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Rev. 21:4

13)I have a living hope

14) and an inheritance that Jesus is keeping for me.

I Peter 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

15) I am a brand new creation in Christ, and that is the way God sees me, not in my trespasses and sins. II Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

16) I am His sheep and He is my shepherd.

17) I shall not lack for anything I need.

Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd;I shall not want.

18) I will be delivered from the wrath to come by Jesus, as will all who place their faith in Him. I Thessalonians 1:10 "...and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come."

19)Surely God's goodness

20) and God's mercy

21) will follow me all the days of my life

22) and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 23:6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.

23) I have been given everlasting consolation

24) and good hope through grace

I Thessalonians 2: 16 "Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,"

25) The Lord is my strength

26) and my shield

27) When I trust Him, I am helped

Psalm 28:7 "The LORD is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I will praise Him."

28) I have been given by the Father to the Son

29) and I shall in no wise be cast out of the Father's hand

“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand." John 10:29

29) My Father rejoices over me with gladness

30) quiets me with His love

31) and rejoices over me with singing

Zephaniah 3: 17 "The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”

32) I am totally complete in Christ.

"and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power." Colossians 2:10

33) He who began a good work in me will complete it.
Philippians 1: 6 "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;"

34) the enemy has been defeated forever

35) I have been made alive together with Him

36) I've been forgiven all my trespasses

37) All the ordinances that I violated were nailed to the tree at Calvary

Colossians 2:13 "And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it."

38) I am dead to sins

39) and I am alive to God

40) therefore, I no longer have to be a slave to sin

"knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin"
Romans 6:6

41) Neither death

42) nor life

43) nor angels

44) nor principalities

45) nor powers

46) nor things present

47) nor things to come

48) nor height

49) nor depth

50) nor any other creature

shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

51) He will never leave me

52) He will never forsake me

Hebrews 13:5 "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

and last but definitely least:

53) the Lord is my helper, I need not fear man and what he might do to me

Hebrews 13:6 "So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."

So I guess my physical birthday is just a day, it is my spiritual birthday that really counts. For without being born anew in Christ, none of these things would be mine. But with simple faith in Christ, all of these things are mine. And not only for me, but for anyone who believes in His name. If you are without Christ, why not make today your very own spiritual birthday?

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16