Jesus is bigger than my sins

Psalm 106 is amazing. It talks about God’s steadfast love even when Israel was rebellious and unfaithful. It has been an encouragement and a beautiful reminder of God’s grace. This part (v36-39) in particular really blows my mind:

They served idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood, thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds.

The Israelites had become beyond unclean! Their sins against God seem to be the worst of the worst. Not just murdering (as sinful and evil as that is) but murdering children- in the name of idolatry. They were sacrificing their children to demons! How much worse can sin get? Their sin was BIG-there’s no way around it.

Here, anybody caught doing something like that would justly be put into prison if not condemned to death themselves. These would be just sentences for their crimes. It would be right for these things to take place. Concerning the Israelites, God did deliver them to be oppressed by their enemies. But his hand does not stop there. If we read further, God in his grace saved these undeserving, murderous, idolatrous, people (44-46):

Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress, when he had heard their cry. For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love. He caused them to be pitied by all those who held them captive.

God did not have to save them. He would have been perfectly just and perfectly good if he had not relented but kept them in their oppression. They deserved that. But God is a gracious God.

In comparison, we have never sacrificed a baby to an idol, but because God is Holy even the “smallest” of sin offends Him and it is rightly punished with Hell. But God is a gracious God.  He’s so gracious that he sent Jesus to die for sinners. We do not have to be condemned to hell if we will call on the precious name of Jesus.

As I read this story, I’m amazed at the grace of Jesus. If God relents on a whoring, murderous and idolatrous people then we must believe that there’s no sin bigger than His grace in Christ Jesus-not even sacrificing babies to demons. 

This song fits my praise:

Wonderful grace of Jesus

Deeper than the mighty rolling seas…

Bigger than my sins,

Greater than my shame,

O magnify the precious name of Jesus

Praise His name! Praise His name! Praise His name!

Let’s praise His name!

(This song was on the "Village Worship" CD-let it edify you too. It's free. )

To know Christ more

Hearing Jesus preached every sermon has impacted the way I read God’s word. Not until recently have I been amazed and actually had the thought “Wow! The bible talks about Jesus a lot!”

You see before this very deep revelation of mine ;), I’d read my bible differently. When I sat down to read my goal was to hopefully become a mature Christian some day. I knew God’s word was powerful in fighting off temptation. Therefore, I knew I needed it in my heart to be encouraged. “So what?” you say, “of course that’s why Christians read the bible!”

As good intentioned as that may sound, it’s wrong. Since I’ve been hearing the word and the gospel together each weekend, I’ve come to a different conclusion. I, the Christian, should be reading the bible to know Christ, my beautiful Savior, more. The truth is it’s not about me and how I can grow.

I was looking at Hebrews 12:1, 2 which says “…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God.” Think of it this way, we say “Hooray! Lets run the race!” But we can’t just run the race! We have see that the only way to run the race is by looking to Jesus who is the very reason we run the race for He is the founder!

It’s the kinda’ same with reading our bible. Sure we should read the bible! But not without Jesus in mind! He is the founder and perfecter of our faith. Surely not without seeking to be more of Him. To read the bible for the sake of becoming more a mature Christian would be a mistake. We need Jesus in every part of the equation!

God has used Christ-centered preaching to change the way I read His word and as I come to know Jesus more, I am seeing Him more in the Bible. It makes sense too; He is the reason of every passage!

I want to read the Bible, but not just for the sake of getting something out of it for myself and not seeing Christ in it. Reading our bibles must be done for the sake of coming to know Jesus and His beauty more and more.

Challenge: Read God’s word with the purpose of knowing Jesus Christ more. 

Essential Gospel Truth #8

8) God put the punishment of sinners on Jesus

Suggested Verses: Isaiah 53:5;  Romans 5:8;  2 Corinthians 5:21;  1 Peter 2:24

Explanation: “Our biggest problem is that we are sinners who deserve to be punished by God with death and hell.

But because God is merciful, He made a way for sin to be punished and sinners to be saved. How? God sent Jesus into the world to save helpless sinners. How could Jesus do this? Because Jesus is fully God, He did something that

you or I or anyone else could ever do. Jesus obeyed all of God’s commands, all of the time. Jesus never sinned, He is perfectly holy and righteous. How does this help sinners? 

      Since Jesus is holy and righteous and had no sin of His own, He was able to be the perfect substitute for sinners. What is a substitute? Someone who takes the place of someone else. For example, a substitute teacher takes the place of your teacher when she is absent. A baby-sitter takes the place of mom and dad when they are gone. 

      Jesus acted as a substitute for sinners by taking the place of sinners. How? Jesus was willing to take the punishment for all the sins of His people. Jesus received from God the punishment that His people deserved. Jesus did this on the cross. This is what God sent Jesus into the world to do. That is why Jesus was hung on a cross – so that God, His Father, would punish Jesus instead of having to punish His people. When Jesus died on the cross in place of His sinful people, He experienced all of the terrible anger and hatred that God has toward their sin. 

      Not only did Jesus take away the sin and punishment of His people so that our sins would be forgiven, Jesus also gives something to His people – something that you and I need in order to go to heaven and live forever with God. What did Jesus give to His people? His perfect righteousness!  Remember, God says that we must be holy and righteous and obey Him all of the time. Jesus always obeyed God. Jesus is righteous and holy. When Jesus died on the cross He took away the sin and punishment of His people and then gives to them His perfect righteousness!” 

      But Jesus’ death on the cross was not the end of the story. After Jesus died, He was buried. But guess what? Jesus didn’t stay buried. He was resurrected from the dead. That means that He rose from the death and came alive again! Jesus’ resurrection is proof that He has won the battle over sin and death and hell. And because of this, God’s people are now saved so that they can someday go to heaven and live with and enjoy God forever! Jesus is a living Savior. There is no one else like Jesus!

Illustration:

·       Times of discipline (for younger children): “What if daddy said that he would receive your spanking in your place instead of you? Would that be good news? That’s a little bit of what it’s like when Jesus died on the cross. Jesus took all the spankings that his people deserved and he got spanked in their place. God punished Jesus for our sin, so that we would not have to be punished by God and could go to heaven and live forever with God.”

·       Back Pack Activity (Older children): Get the biggest backpack/pack. Label it “my sin” put it on your child & start loading, loading, loading with books or heavy objects till they are weighted down. Then tell your child “that’s a little bit of what it’s like to be weighted down with sin. God said there’s a right punishment for all that sin you are carrying. What is it? God’s punishment.” Give the adult playing Jesus “Holy & Righteous” and give your child a sign sign that says “SIN.” Now say, “ We are going to pretend that Dad is Jesus for a minute. We are going to give dad a bag to carry but guess what? There’s nothing in it because Jesus had no sin. He was Holy & Righteous. Have the adult playing Jesus lift the sack off of the child and carry it himself. Then give his own sack to the child. Then ask “Now Jesus took the sin of his people and bore it on his body and the tree, what then should Jesus get? Who gets this sign that says “SIN”. Jesus does. That’s a little bit of what it’s like of what Jesus did on the cross for sinners. He traded.”

·       Give a test: Make a test for your child (math/spelling). Make it so that it is impossible for child to get it correct. You take the same test, knowing that you could get them all correct. Put your name on it. Grade the papers. Say, “This one is all wrong. Jacob got every single problem wrong. He gets a ‘F’. Mom got them all correct. She deserves and “A.” She gets a prize because she got them all right. So mom’s got the prize now.” Now mom will take Jacob’s test and cross out his name and put her own name on it. Then take her own test and cross out her name and put Jacob’s name. Say, “Now who will get the prize? Jacob will. Was it because he did anything to get it? No. Mom traded tests. She gave him her perfect test, her perfect score, and the prize and gave it to Jacob. She took Jacob’s test and made it her own. That’s a little bit of what it’s like of what Jesus did on the cross for sinners. He traded with sinners.

Implication: Jesus died on the cross to be punished in your place

Heather’s thoughts: I remember the first time I heard of a parent doing something like this. It was so beautiful. My friend Wes told me that his professor was going to discipline his daughter. She was supposed to stay in time out for a certain amount of time. However, this time the father decided he was going to take her burden on himself. He let her go about her business while he took on her time-out. Later he explained the gospel through what he did for her. Wow! It almost made me cry when I heard it. What a beautiful thing that Jesus would take on every sinful, wrong, horrible thing we’ve ever done and carry out that punishment.

Tomorrow will be Essential Gospel Truth #9 which is “God offers the free gift of Salvation to those who repent and believe in Jesus” Almost to number ten! Hope you guys stick around!

Essential Gospel Truth #7

7) Jesus is God’s holy and righteous Son.

Suggested Verses: John 1:1, 14;  1 Timothy 1:15

                 

Explanation: “How did God make a way for sin to be punished and sinners to be saved? By sending His one and only Son, Jesus, into the world. Because Jesus is the Son of God, He is fully God. That means that everything that is true of God the Father, is true of Jesus. For example, Jesus is all-powerful – just like God. That is why Jesus could things like healing sick people, making crippled people walk, making blind men see, and bringing dead people back to life. 

                  But when God sent Jesus to live on this earth, God also had Jesus become fully human. That is why Jesus was born as a real baby and grew up like real boys do and became a grown man. Because Jesus became a real person like you and me, He knows what its like to be sleepy and hungry. He understands what it is like to learn to walk and run and read and write. He knows how hard it can be to trust and obey God all of the time. And even though Jesus became just like us in all of these ways, He was able to do something that we could never, ever do. Jesus never once sinned! Because He is

God’s Son, He was born without a sin nature. Jesus was born without the desire to sin. And even when the devil tempted Him to sin, Jesus never sinned. Jesus perfectly obeyed God’s holy, righteous, and good commands ALL of the time!  Jesus is holy and righteous. This is great news for sinners!”

Illustration:

---Showing how Jesus never sinned---

·       Jesus temptation vs. Adam’s temptation

o   Adam was in the Garden & had everything to eat-Adam sinned

o   Jesus was in the wilderness & had nothing to eat –Jesus didn’t sin

o   Both tempted by Satan- Adam failed, Jesus succeeded

·       Make a list (of all possible sins): Write them on a white board with a marker. (Fill as much up as you can). Take an eraser and one by one ask “Did Jesus ever do _______?” No, he never stole, fought, envied, cheated, etc. Until the white board is all clear. Jesus never, ever sinned.

Implication: Jesus, God’s Holy and Righteous son, came into the world to save you

Heather’s thoughts:  I love the order of these presented. Because  #7 will have already been explained (which is “God is Holy & Righteous”) children will be able to see how they (Jesus & God) have the same character. Not only that, but it lays the foundation for also explaining the Trinity-because they share the same characteristics.

Sorry this post was so late tonight. Hope it blesses you anyways!

Tomorrow I will be posting Essential Truth #8 which is “God put the punishment of sinners on Jesus.”