Jesus suffered in every way on this earth just like we do. He endured the unendurable, and He thought of us the whole time. He did not refuse to pay the penalty of our transgressions against God’s laws. He willingly laid down His life for the whole world (1 John 1:9; John 3:16-17). What a tremendous weight that was.
In addition, God turned His back on the sin that Jesus accepted onto Himself. The man, Jesus, went to the cross without God’s presence within Him. That is why He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” He was all alone as He hung there in our place. He survived this ordeal by focusing on the joy that waited for Him in Heaven.
He not only resumed His rightful place on the Father’s right hand, but God rewarded Him with power, authority, Kingship and dominion over the whole earth (Hebrews 12:2). Now, He is our advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1), and we can overcome the temptation to sin, because Jesus lives within us (1 Corinthians 10:13; Colossians 1:27).
Continual and honest confession of our sin frees us from the bondage that ties us to it. We name each transgression specifically, rather than asking for a blanket of forgiveness for all of them at once. We are assured of His forgiveness, because we also forgive the failings of others who wound us (Matthew 6:14-15).
Satan is the accuser of the Saints of God, and He attempts to cripple us by making us feel shame for our past offenses (Revelation 12:10). His motive is to steal our freedom in Christ, to kill our chances of serving the Lord, and to destroy our life in the process (John 10:10).
To defeat the devil’s hold on us, we simply draw close to God, and then we resist the satanic attempts to cripple us. This causes him to flee from us and sets us free from his lies, manipulation and empty promises (James 4:7-10).
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for providing Jesus to pay the penalty of our sins and to set us free from the lies and shame of the devil. You search our heart and test us to see if there is any penchant toward evil in us. Thank You for promising to lead us in Your eternal plans for our life (Psalm 139:23-24). Help us to continue to show Your love to those who disappoint and wound us.
Help Your Church to be like-minded, to consider others better than our self, and to give us one mind focused on Your will for our life (1 Corinthians 1:10). Remind us to keep a short list of those who offend us, and to readily forgive every transgression, so that You can forgive us (Matthew 6:15). Help us to be an example of Your love to those who live with us and around us (1 Corinthians 13; John 17:20-21).
Thought for the Day:
Forgiving opposition, false accusations, hurtful gossip, belittling, bullying, and persecution enables us to forgive our self as well, and to feel more compassion for those who suffer in the same way that we do; forgiveness helps us to live in harmony with one another without abandoning our beliefs, convictions and individuality.
