Last week my topic was, “What Does It Mean To Be Saved?” In that blog we learned that at Creation man was spiritually connected to God and that the Garden of Eden was paradise. Adam and Eve lived in total harmony with their Creator and they wanted for nothing; it was perfect! However…when they disobeyed God’s directive and sin was allowed to enter the world, Utopia came to an end and Adam and Eve were cursed and put out of the Garden. Unfortunately for mankind, the same curse that befell our forefathers has been passed on to every generation since Adam. The spiritual connection between God and man that was severed by sin (disobedience) in the Garden has dictated that every generation thereafter be born in sin, meaning spiritually separated from God. As a result of that separation, man’s focus went from a God-centered state of being to a self-centered state of being, meaning man’s focus, instead of being in line with God’s will and bringing honor and glory to Him, was now shifted to satisfying himself and his lustful passions. Living in a state of separation from God is referred to as “living in sin”. As one might expect, if we live in sin, we do sinful things. The Bible refers to that state as following our “sin nature”. I find it interesting that our culture refers to this same condition as following our “human nature”.
But there is good news. Because God is a loving God, a merciful God, and a forgiving God and because he wants a relationship with us…an eternal relationship with us, he always had a plan for our salvation, even before the world was created. We had from Creation to 2000 years ago to try to live up to the standard He revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai, but man continued to sink deeper into the quagmire of sin. This is stated so beautifully in Romans 5:6 “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. ..” and again in Roman 3:22-25, “22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are or what we have done. 23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, with his gracious kindness, declares us “not guilty”. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood for us”.
Because we cannot have an eternal relationship with God if we are stained with sin, He knew the only answer was to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. The sin issue had to be solved, because by its very nature sin spreads; it contaminates; it kills and it destroys. (If you doubt that, look at the Garden of Eden – paradise; now look at the world we live in today. Is this paradise?) He solved that problem by offering Jesus Christ as the sacrificial lamb to take our sin upon himself at the cross, thus allowing us to come into His presence. He sent a Savior to save us from ourselves…from our sin nature.
Now that we have seen the necessity for our salvation, I am thrilled to share with you the transformation that results from the decision to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. In Romans 1:16, Apostle Paul states: “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” All of this is a gift of grace, meaning we did nothing to earn it and we certainly did not deserve it. It is, quite simply, given by a loving God who wants us to spend eternity with Him!
One of the most influential books I have read is “Classic Christianity” by Bob George, published by Harvest House Publishers. God has gifted him to take complicated concepts found in the Bible and state them in a clear, concise manner. Because of the work he has already done and the clarity of his presentation, I will refer occasionally to his verbiage in the material that follows. I will put his material in boldface italics.
When people first hear the Gospel, they are almost unanimously drawn to it because of the promise of forgiveness of sin and eternal life. Now don’t get me wrong, that is reason enough to embrace the offering of Christianity. Forgiveness of our sin is a requirement for being in the presence of God and eternal life is certainly appealing. If the focus is on what happens after we die, that certainly can add a sense of security to our current existence. But what about the life you are living now? Is this the abundant life Jesus promised? Are you filled with joy? Are you confident you are fulfilling God’s will for your life? Is your life a model of peace and serenity? Do you live your life with confidence that you are heir to every promise in the Bible?
As Christians, we don’t have to wait until we die to begin experiencing God’s Kingdom. God’s Kingdom is available to all believers right here and now, and we can, and should, be partakers of all His blessings because we are “in Christ”. The only thing that stands between us and living life to the fullest is the lack of understanding of our new identity “in Christ”. Prepare for an awakening! What I am about to write below is your new identity “in Christ”.
God loves you unconditionally. Romans 8:38-39 states: “38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.’’ Because you are in Christ, meaning you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are totally accepted by Him…no matter who you are or what you have done!
Your sins are forgiven and you can come boldly before God without any fear of condemnation. (Romans 8:1) This happens because your old nature (your sin nature) is taken away at conversion and you are a new creation in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit to empower you become the person God created you to be. 1 John 4:4, “The spirit that is in me (The Holy Spirit) is greater than the spirit that is in this world (Satan)” You are already victorious because you have the Holy Spirit in you to empower you to overcome Satan, your flesh, and this world!
You are made righteous with God because you are covered with the blood of Jesus. When God looks at you, he does not see a sinner (that’s who you were). Now he sees a Saint (that’s who you are today) because you are in Christ. “Keep in mind that we are made right with God because of our identity, not because of our actions”. As a Saint we will continue to stumble and fall short of God’s standard, but because we have the Holy Spirit in us, we ask Him to empower us to be the person we now want to be. We want to live a life that brings honor and glory to God.
God’s plan for our salvation is perfect. Not only does he call us to live to a higher standard than the world around us, but he gives us the Holy Spirit to empower us to accomplish His purpose. When we fall short, we no longer have to pray for forgiveness. That issue has already been solved!! Our course of action now is to ask the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom, strength, courage, perseverance, patience, whatever we need to accomplish our purpose. If our purpose is in line with His will for our life, our prayer will be answered. (1John 5:14-15) (It is important that I state clearly…the Holy Spirit empowers us to do the work. We have to be involved in the process of change, and the processis the root of our spiritual growth!)
Hebrews 4:16 states, “…we may approach the Throne of Grace with confidence that we may receive mercy and grace to help in our time of need.” “No reason to wait outside the throne room wondering if you’re worthy or because you’re concerned about what you need to do to make yourself more acceptable. You are a Child of God! You have full access to Him, and when you pray in “Jesus Name”, recognizing that apart from Him there is no way we could be accepted by a holy God, he will delight in blessing you”.
My question to you is…are you living life to the fullest? Are you far enough along in your spiritual growth to step out in faith?? Let me know your thoughts on these ideas.
May God bless ya,
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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