BIBLE PASSAGE:
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous
for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put
to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.
(1 Peter 3:18)
MEDITATION:
If someone asked you to define a deep and sincere
love for someone, how would you describe it?
Then, if they followed up by asking you to define a deep
and sincere love for all people (including those who hated
the person), what would you say?
The answer to both questions could be summed up with,
“Look to Jesus”.
He was the “righteous” who suffered for
the “unrighteous” (which of course is everyone).
Think of the word “suffered”.
It is defined as: “to undergo or feel pain or distress”.
That doesn’t sound like anything to do with love, does it?
And yet that’s exactly what Jesus did for every person!
When He was “put to death”, it showed us
the depth and sincerity of His love for mankind.
He loves every individual and He loves His Father.
At the same time, He was obedient
to His Father’s plan for the salvation of mankind,
(the final victory over Satan and his destructiveness).
Jesus suffered for one reason – “to bring us to God”.
What does “bring us to God” really mean?
It means that our sins have been hidden from the eyes
of God, so that we can be brought into His presence.
Okay, this is quite confusing, isn’t it?
We have sin in our lives and God sees and knows
everything, so how could our sins be hidden from Him?
There has to be more to the story, right?
The suffering (both physically and emotionally) of Jesus
is only the first part of our being “brought to God”.
When Jesus was “put to death”, the door of opportunity
was opened for the second part, which is our responsibility.
We have to have a desire to
leave our sins behind and go in a new direction.
Instead of being influenced by the “ways of the world”
we choose to be under the control of the righteousness of God.
It might sound like a daunting choice,
but it is required if we expect to be “brought to God”.
Our sincerity is not something that can be hidden from God,
because our omniscient Creator can “read our hearts”.
When we are “brought to God”, it means we have been forgiven.
Forgiven? For what? Our sinfulness.
Our sin is offensive to God, which means we need His forgiveness.
It makes sense, doesn’t it?
The one offended is the only one who can offer forgiveness.
For instance, suppose someone punched you in the nose.
And, suppose that from a heart of compassion
you choose to forgive that person.
But, what if the other person said something like,
“You don’t need to forgive me
because I’ve already forgiven myself”.
How would you feel?
Would you be offended even more at the other person,
because you were the one who had been injured,
so you should be the one who forgives.
If they forgive themselves, then it shows
that your opinion (and compassion) is not important.
ACTION:
With that as a visual, we need to realize that
sin is a clenched fist in the face of God, which
means only He can forgive us for our sins.
Are there things in your life that need to be forgiven?
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, my sins are against You and so
I ask for Your forgiveness of my offenses. Thank
You for being my merciful and forgiving God, who
forgives those who surrender their lives to Your
will and believe that Your Son died for our sins.”
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