Judged: Not Guilty

I remember the first time I felt condemned.  By comparison with others who have lived traumatic childhood, it was "nothing".  As the firstborn child and the firstborn grandchild on both sides of my parents' families, however, I was a "golden child".  I had grown up for approximately 10 years being told how excellent I was.  Even though by the time of this incident I had accepted Christ as Savior, I was a new believer.  I knew I was a sinner, saved by grace.  But, still, in comparison to others of my age and circumstances, I thought I was something special.

Well, one day on the playground I experienced a major "condemnation."  For whatever the reason, the rest of my class had gone on in, and some upperclassmen girls (7th graders) were left on the playground with me.  About 3 of them came up to me and commented on how pretty I was.  This, of course, made my heart soar - - - to be praised by such exalted older girls.  Their "compliment" was quickly followed by the "2" of their 1-2 punch: "she's pretty ugly"!  At this point, they collapsed into peals of laughter over the play-on-words they had made.  Playground, indeed!  If I said anything in return, I don't remember it.  But, I vividly remember their faces and their words that day.  I was condemned as "ugly" by the pretty girls.

When we measure ourselves against others, we are almost always sure to find someone "better".  It's a self-defeating process.  Against whom or what, then, should we measure ourselves?

Against God's standard in the word of God.

Although our species was originally created in God's image, because of mankind's fall into sin, we are all born into sin.  Therefore, we have a stain on our souls that is seemingly inescapable. This truth is reaffirmed by many writers in the Bible, but let's look at the example of David, for one:

Look, I was guilty of sin from birth, a sinner the moment my mother conceived me. 

Psalm 51:5 (NET)

All people innately know this to be true.  The problem is that most deny it.  The way of the world is to run from God's condemnation of sin, to deny it, to hide from it, to shake our fists against it.  This only leads to more enslavement, more despair, more condemnation.  Mankind's rejection of God's answer to our condemnation only leads to greater guilt.

Amid such darkness, Romans 8:1 bursts onto the scene as a ray of brilliant light.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

What does that mean "no condemnation"?  Those who are "in Christ Jesus" - - who are they?  How do they get rid of their sin curse?  (I wrote expansively about this in a blog post from July 4, 2014, "The Main Thing".)  The only remedy for our sin is Christ's finished work on our behalf: His birth, life, death, burial and triumphant resurrection from the dead.  The blood He spilled out, the life sacrifice He made, satisfied the requirements of God the Father.  Jesus bought our righteousness and gave it to those who take Him as Savior.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed.

1 Peter 2:24 (NET)

13For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:13-14 (NET)

Jesus purchased this invaluable gift for all people, but not all will receive it.  Many, the greatest majority, in fact, will not.  Why not?  Many reasons.  Here are a couple:
1.  Sin is seductive and pleasurable.  Most do not want to leave behind their sins and turn to Christ.
2.  Satan's deceptive powers have blinded many to the truth of their condition.  Most somehow believe that, in the end, God will judge their puny efforts to be "good enough".  Although prevalent in our fallen world, this belief is resoundingly refuted, time and time again, in Scripture.

There is only one way to escape God's condemnation of our sin: Jesus Christ, who declared Himself "the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:16).  Notice: He did not say "A way, A truth..." No. One way, THE way.

So, for the believer in Jesus Christ - - for that person who has not only believed intellectually with his or her head but also with a heart belief that involves surrender and repentance - - there is forever NO condemnation for sins.  All are forgiven, past, present and future.  Positionally, God the Father then sees Christ's own as righteous, with all condemnation removed.  Positionally, Christ's followers are then granted status as sons and daughters of God, co-heirs with Jesus Christ in the riches of God's grace and mercy.

Listen to this:  when Christ's blood is applied to our souls, it is the same to God as "just as if she had never sinned".  We may have trouble forgiving ourselves and forgetting our sins, but God does not have that problem.  When we are "justified", made right, with God, He then banishes our former fallen, sin-ridden state as far away from Himself as "the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12).

I'll never forget that day, that day when He washed all my sins away.  The incredible, incomparable realization: "Judged: Not Guilty".  I can still see in my mind's eye that little nine-year old girl dancing and twirling around the parking lot in the balmy, August evening, arms flung wide, head uplifted - - total freedom and joy.

Does it sound too good to be true?  Too simple?  It's the best thing this earthly life has to offer, the best decision a person can ever make, the most consequential choice of a lifetime, because its implications last forever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBqUwpCvCL8

Dear Father,  no condemnation!  Thank you for making one way and only one way for me to be reconciled to You, my Father, my Creator, my Savior.  Thank you for removing all my sin, forever. Such love, mercy and grace compel me to serve You with my whole heart, to walk .... resplendent!
In Jesus' name, amen.

Fig Leaves

Good morning,

In telling the story of Advent, the story of Jesus, the truth of the Fall of Man is inescapable.

6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

      8They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” 13Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Genesis 3:6-12

Adam's and Eve's disastrous decisions in the Garden of Eden are the very reason Christ came.  Since Eden, not a single human soul is born without that stain, now built in to the human DNA.  We are all unable to resist the Serpent's beguiling words.  Regardless of his many temptations, at least one is going to the particular trap we fall for.  We all have that moment when we discover ourselves stained, irreparably soiled by sin.

The very ones who dismiss this key event in the history of mankind, the Fall, are the same ones who reach for fig leaves.  But, they aren't alone, because even followers of Jesus Christ, even Believers, Redeemed Ones, daily feel the lure of the Serpent's words and lapse into sin.  As the anguished hymnwriter said, "Prone to wander, LORD, I feel it!  Prone to leave the God I love!"

There are really only two responses to the stench of our sin.  In the midst of our foul besmirchment Jesus comes.  He calls to us:  "Come to me, all of you who are weary and impossibly weighed down with your sin; and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28)  We can either run to Him for confession, repentance, cleansing and restoration.  Or, we can grab a fig leaf - - - some lesser remedy.

Look at the picture above again.  Did you notice, in the design of the fig leaf that the young leaf is red, reminiscent of blood? A fig leaf represents a false and ineffective blood atonement for our sins.  "Fig leaves" can be denial, rejection of God's truth, self-righteousness, self-help, false religions, pop psychology, mind-numbing drugs, addictive substances....the list goes on and on.  All other options, cures, antidotes, though they may appear to be "magic bullets" will fail.  None other than the one God gave to us, in the person of the Baby in the Manger, can heal our deepest wounds.

He calls to each of us today, not only in this Advent season, but every day:  "Where are you?" (vs. 9).  Here is the call of a loving God, the Lover of our Souls, who poured Himself out so that all of our sin can be forever remedied, so that no revulsive unholiness can resist the power of His blood which covers them all, so that all we He created can run toward Him to find our utter completeness in Him, and only there in His arms.

St. Augustine of Hippo, an early church father, came to understand this.  Today's closing prayer will be from a portion of his work entitled, Confessions:

Great are you , O Lord, and exceedingly worthy of praise; your power is immense and your wisdom beyond reckoning.  And so we men, who are a due part of your creation, long to praise you - - we also carry our mortality about us, carry the evidence of our sin and with it the proof that you thwart the proud.  You arouse us so that praising you may bring us joy, because you have made us and draw us to yourself, and our heart is unquiet until it rests in you.

"The Fall turns into a falling into His everlasting arms! (Deuteronomy 33:27)"  Ann Voskamp

Oh Jesus!  Only You.  Amen.


Sources:

https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/621/Our_Heart_is_Restless_St_Augustine.html

 Voskamp, Ann. The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas. Print.