#jesus

Jesus always provides another chance. God has not written you off. He has not cast you aside. Your failure is not final. While you must acknowledge and repent of your sin, Jesus waits with open arms to welcome you back, reinstate you, and use you.

Jesus blesses the faithful. In the words of the writer to the Hebrews, Jesus commends those who are sure of what they hope for and certain of what they don’t see. Some of these faithful were men and women who lived before Jesus. People like Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Rahab. They lived by faith even though the Gift had not been unwrapped.

Are your emotions bouncing off the wall? Are all the sounds distracting you? Is the hurried pace isolating you from others? Are you visually exhausted? Close your eyes. Jesus is alive. The resurrected Lord is here. Listen to His voice.

Why would a man who claimed to be God’s Son remain silent before human authorities? How could one who resisted the temptations of Satan submit to the torment of soldiers? How could a man speak with such power and now refuse to register a defense? Why would a man who walked on water march to His death without a fight? How could a man who raised the dead…die?

Today, for all who trust in the work of Christ to bring them into a personal relationship with God, that same power exists. Have you trusted in Jesus as the one who made the way to God?

Mission accomplished? Only the Father and His willing Son saw beyond what looked like a miserable ending. That day Jesus took on His most important work. On the cross, He took our sins and paid our penalty. Then He cried out one word, “Tetelestai,” which means “paid in full,” and died. Mission accomplished!

Jesus’ question to the Father was a deep cry of His unfathomable love for us.  Even when He felt forsaken by the Father, even when He didn’t know how much longer He could hold on, even when the pain was unimaginable, Jesus never gave up. He never gave in. Jesus paid for sin in its deepest and fullest penalty for you and me.

The work of Jesus on the cross was applied to this condemned man. All his sin was laid on Jesus, and he passed from death to life. Such is the power of grace. Such is the fullness of forgiveness.

Too many people use the guilt and shame of sin as a barrier between themselves and God. Many believe they must clean up their acts before God will accept them. The problem with that thinking is this: no one can clean up their life on their own. Only Jesus can do that. Lay your sin—the sin He died for—before Him and let His forgiveness wash over your heart.