Sunday, July 12, 2009

If sin was a man...

... I would fight him. I would beat him mercilessly for corrupting every good thing in my life.

My relationships with my wife, my sons, my sister, and even my parents are broken because of sin. I am dissatisfied with my job and my paycheck because of sin. Sin tells me that I will never be good enough, will never measure up. I'm too fat, too old, too uneducated, too poor... at least that's what sin tells me.

Sin if you had a physical form, I would attack you until one of us was dead... but you don't.

I am completely powerless to fight something that I cannot touch. I would have an easier time trying to catch the wind in my bare hands. I could more easily wrestle a bear.

I... cannot... fight... sin.

Praise God that Jesus did! For whatever reason, overcoming sin requires a blood sacrifice and only the blood of God Himself was strong enough, holy enough, to redeem the sin of this world.

Jesus is God and He poured out His blood on a wooden cross that I may no longer be a slave to the selfish whims of sin.

So why don't I live that out in my life? Instead, I pretend that the battle wages on and that the Holy Spirit doesn't dwell within me. I pretend that the very Spirit of God has left me to my own devices... and I let sin steal my victories.

Oh yes, sin, I would fight you... if only I could.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12

Monday, July 6, 2009

Independence Day

This past Saturday was July 4th, American Independence Day. It is a day where we, as a nation, celebrate our freedom and honor those who have fought, and are fighting, to secure it.

Our social freedoms are God-given and reflect the liberation that we have experienced in Christ. Once we were slaves to sin and death, unable to resist the binding chains of selfish desires.

But God in His mercy... while we were sinners, enemies of The Most High, provided a way to free us and restore an intimate relationship with Him. He sent His son, Jesus, to live as His perfect sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus took on the full wrath of God at the cross, in my place, so that I could be called a son of The Most High God.

No amount of barbecue, swimming pools, or fireworks could ever express the joy I have in Him. It is because God loved me first that I am able to freely love Him in return.