Did you ever see a person that committed such a terrible crime
they were sitting on death row knowing that they were guilty, waiting to be executed
with no chance of being pardoned? There have
been many in this situation over the years and for them it was the second time
they were found guilty of death and their punishment was death. They received a second death sentence because of
the crime they chose to commit but even before they committed that crime they had
a death sentence on their life. Like I said
the Bible says, “the wages of sin is death,” therefore all of us had the death sentence
on our lives and the verdict was in, we were without hope.
Read what it says in Romans 6:12, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey
the lusts thereof.”
In our case we were all born with a sin nature which we put
into practice at a very young age. Can
you remember the first time you lied? I
think we are all guilty of lying at one time or another. This is what it says about lying in Revelations
21:8, “But for the fearful, and unbelieving,
and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters,
and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and
brimstone; which is the second death.”
What about the other things in that verse that we have been guilty of?
I started out with the bad news but there is good news and
there is hope. The good news is that when
we were lost in our sins God made a way that we could be reconciled to Him or
made right with Him. The verdict was in,
but God chose to freely pardon. God chose
to extend His grace, His unmerited favor towards His creation. Read the complete
verse in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of
sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.”
Now read what John 3:16-17 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God
sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should
be saved through him.”
What is God seeking from us? Read Psalms 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: A broken and contrite
heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”
God is pleased when we genuinely repent and intentionally turn
away from our sins. If this is our intent
we can humble ourselves before the Lord and ask Him to forgive us of our sins
and be the Lord of our lives. The Lord listens
to the prayer of the humble and contrite heart. It is hard to imagine that God sent Jesus
Christ, His only begotten Son, to die on a cross which should have been our punishment;
an innocent man for the guilty, even while we were His enemies. He shed His blood for us and though He would
experience terrible pain He was willing to die for us because He loved His
Father and us so much. Don’t forget that
even our repentance was brought about by God, so we bring nothing but ourselves
to the cross, God made it all possible through His amazing grace which is his unmerited
favor towards us, something we can never thank and praise him enough for.
If you think this had anything to do with your good works or
anything you had done, read this is Ephesians 2:8-9, “for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory.”
The choice is yours, if you are not a believer you can be, or
if you are a backslider, far away from God like the prodigal son, repent and return
to Him. Humble yourself and confess your
sins and ask God to forgive you and be the Lord of your life. Don’t be in a hurry, let Him fill you with
His peace, love and joy then you will walk away rejoicing. Go to a Bible teaching church and start
growing in your newfound faith and share with others what the Lord has done for
you. Something to think about! I hope you have a super day and the Lord’s blessings
are with you and yours!!
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