JC Blog

As humans we still sin. We struggle with it and feel guilty because of it. As such, we rationalize that our sin is an issue with God. This perspective is what fuels this notion that God is upset with us because of sin. Many feel that God is waiting for an excuse to strike them down. Even believers are sin conscious before God, but this should not be.

The truth is Jesus has paid for the sins of the entire world. "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" ( I John 2:2 ). If sin were atoned for, then by Jesus' blood we are forgiven by God. Even people that reject Jesus have been forgiven of all of their sin. We know this because Jesus only made one sacrifice, for sin, for all times. "And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin" ( Hebrews 10:8 ). Sin is not the issue; the issue is our non-Biblical perspective of it and its effect on our relationship with God.

"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven" ( Hebrews 1:1-3 ). Jesus, who created the Universe and holds it together with His powerful word, is the same one who provided purification for our sins. Purification is both an action and its result. This means that Jesus took away our sins as well as cleansed us from the guilt associated with it.

Just as God rested after creation was finished because there was nothing left to create, Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father because our redemption was completely and eternally finished! The same Word that upholds the universe upholds our purification before God, it is a done deal. "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation" ( Colossians 1:19-22 ).

If we are forgiven and free from accusation then the only thing that keeps us from approaching God with confidence is our sin consciousness. But our purification was twofold; we were forgiven of sin and cleansed from its guilt. Therefore must let forgiveness and mercy overcome any accusation sin has on us. "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" ( Hebrews 9:14 ).

This is an important truth! Jesus took care of the sin problem. Sin is not an issue with God. This is a radical statement, but one that will change your perspective in approaching God. Knowing that you are forgiven gives you confidence before God to approach Him by faith. Faith placed in what Jesus did to restore your relationship with God. "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" ( Hebrews 4:16 ).

Relationship with God is the result of knowing that you are forever forgiven. Past sins or guilt cannot keep you in chains. This knowledge keeps you moving forward in life. "For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins" ( II Peter 1:8-9 ). We are to be God-conscious not sin conscious.

Jesus is the perfect imprint of God's nature and shows us God's goodness, love and mercy in an incredible way. Since Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father we know our redemption and forgiveness is secure and eternal.

Knowing the truth about God will take him off of the judgment cloud with lightning bolt in hand and elevate him to where He belongs. He is a loving father that tasked his Son with creating paradise, and then redeemed it so that he could have the family he desired. He has done everything possible to bring you into this family, but the choice is still yours. What you do with Jesus is the deciding factor. Jesus is life!

"To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen" ( Revelation 1:5-6 ).

Tomorrow we look at Hebrews 1:4; Jesus Holds the Name above Every Name. 

God was never lonely. He did not created mankind because something was missing in His life. Perfect love abounded in the trinity from eternity past. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit existed in a triune of divine equality and incredible love for one another. Each one completely God and yet one in unity. Their desire to create mankind grew from a longing for a family to share this love with.

God is love and being perfected in love, He created humans with free will. He chose us and in His love He gave us the right to choose or reject Him. God in His foreknowledge was aware it would not take long for sin to creep in and destroy what He wanted to create but choose to do it anyway. The fall did not catch God off guard. Jesus wasn't an afterthought. He was not the backup plan when sin destroyed God's creation. Jesus was the solution to the problem long before it existed. "He [Jesus] was chosen before the creation of the world..." ( I Peter 1:20 ).

Since Jesus was the solution, the lamb slain before the foundation of the world, God went forward with His plans for family by speaking the world into existence. The word He spoke was Jesus. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made" ( John 1:1-2 ).

Creation was complete in seven days, and then God rested. "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done" ( Genesis 2:2-3 ). He didn't rest because he was tired from creating, He rested because it was finished and there was nothing left to make. Jesus created everything with the ability to reproduce itself so that when it was finished He would never have to create anything again.

In the same fashion as creation, it is Jesus who holds the universe in place by His word. "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word…" ( Hebrews 1:3 ). Jesus built the world and Jesus upholds, maintains and propels it by His word. Jesus illustrated God's nature to us in creating the world out of His desire for a family, then letting us choose Him.

The paradise of the garden didn't last long. Sin crept in and destroyed it while deadening our ability to fellowship with God as He created us to do. God knew this would happen and this is why Jesus was chosen before the foundation of the world to be our sin substitute. ( I Peter 1:19-20 ).

Jesus, true to God's nature, entered humanity to bridge the gap between mankind and God. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him" ( John 3:16-17 ). This verse should remove the notion that God is angry at mankind because of sin. In God's love, he sent Jesus to save the world, not condemn it.

Tomorrow we look at Part 3: Our Sins are Completely and Eternally Forgiven

When you think of God, do you picture him sitting on a cloud with a lightning bolt in hand ready to strike? Many people do. Many are waiting for the day that God will punish them for their mistakes, sins and messes. Thinking it is just a matter of time before it all catches up with them.

Perhaps this imagery is propelled by the notion that God is angry with mankind because of their sins. We look at them, see our failures, where we struggle and assume that God feels the same way. However, these ideas are not the picture of God which is painted in the Bible. We can understand God by looking at Jesus.

Jesus Has Revealed God to Us

"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven" ( Hebrews 1:3 )

A few days before His death, Jesus was giving last minute instructions to his disciples. He told them, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." ( John 14:6-7 ).

Throughout his ministry Jesus said these types of things. He told people that He was God's son, He only did what he saw God doing and that they've seen God by seeing him. These statements fuel hatred toward him on many occasions, but He was clear in communicating that He came to reveal God to mankind in a way that we had not understood Him in the past. "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known" ( John 1:18 ).

Jesus is the perfect imprint of God's nature manifest in the flesh. "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" ( Hebrews 1:3a ). Jesus is the visible demonstration of the divine. He is the outpouring of God's radiance and glory. To understand God's full nature, we must look at, understand and know who Jesus is and know what part He had to play in history.

Over the next three days we will look at Hebrews 1:3; understanding that it is Jesus who shows us the Father by both creation and purification for sins. Both of these things were implemented by Jesus and give us a picture of God’s love and nature. Jesus shows us the exact image of God by the work He has done.

Tomorrow we look at Part 2: Mankind Grew out of God’s Desire for a Family