The statement “God forgives my sins” has become a cliche. It has been said too often and many believers can no longer appreciate the momentous process of the forgiveness of sins. Truly, God’s forgiveness of sins is not granted with very little cost. It is not without reasonable grounds. When Adam and Eve fell into sin in Eden – the first Adam – there could not be any forgiveness: there should be a consequence for sin, and there should be a reasonable ground for pardon. In His wisdom, and to uphold His justice, God demands atonement for sins. Thus, the Father sent His beloved Son. Those with children can appreciate the immeasurable worth of a child, sometimes as precious as our own lives, as precious as many jewels.
Our Father in heaven gave us His beloved Son. This was a divine act that might be hard to fathom, yet He had done it. Out of everything that is God’s, Jesus, His only begotten Son, is His most valued. How great is His sacrifice for us! When Jesus was sent into the world, He had to be made like us, fully human in every way. Yet, for Him to be made a sacrifice for our sin, He had to lead a life suited to this purpose. He had to live as a High Priest, not an earthly one, but one suited for eternity: one without blemish and without spot. As human, Jesus strove until His death on the cross. His person was of such a quality that He was deemed worthy to be a sin offering; just as the blood of the sin offering was the blood of a lamb without blemish.
Therefore, it was not an ordinary life that was offered in our stead, but the life of His Majesty, the Glorious One. In this world, there may be people who are willing to lay down their lives for others. Yet, the quality of their persons does not concern us at all. Whereas Jesus, whose personal quality was perfect, gave His life for us. Only then He could atone for our sins. More precious, more glorious than what we can imagine. Let’s meditate on this: that God’ forgiveness of sin, that is available through the sacrifice of Jesus, is costly; exceedingly costly. It cost God the Father His beloved Son when He sent Jesus to become a human. And Jesus Himself, whilst he was on earth, must win His battle against all temptations and the power of darkness, so He could be deemed perfect in the sight of God (Heb.5:7-9). Then, He could be the ultimate sacrifice of sin, as the sacrificial lamb without blemish and without spot.
We must regard these sacrifices highly. Do not let familiarity, the numerous times we have heard the message about forgiveness and atonement of sins, keep us from understanding how costly the sacrifice of Jesus is. Thus, it was not without reason that the Lord commanded us to regularly observe the holy communion, as it is the essence of salvation. We must always keep His sacrifice in our mind. He said that “Every time you eat this bread and drink this wine in remembrance of Me.” It is a disrespect towards the living God when we treat His sacrifice as of little value. We will deal with God inappropriately and are careless about His feelings. But, as we appreciate the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, and keep in our mind how costly His sacrifice is, then we will deal with God respectfully, we will honour Him. We will be concerned with His feelings, the Father’s feelings who gave us His precious beloved Son.
And we will uphold His words, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” As the woman mentioned in Jn.8:1-11, who was caught in adultery and was to be stoned by the people. Yet Jesus said to the people, “Let any one of you without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” We can only imagine that fear and the feeling of embarrassment, of being humiliated in public and about to be stoned to death. She was in a crisis, a very critical situation. But Jesus rescued her and told her, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Our appreciation for the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus cannot be in a form of melancholy feelings only. The correct and proper response to His sacrifice is by sinning no more. We must do all things right. As we have become His children, God will discipline us, that not only we have the status as children of God, but our entire being is of His children. And Jesus is our model. We cannot negotiate this cost to be in His likeness. Our entire being has to be like Jesus. It is very ironic that many Christians try to negotiate the non-negotiable, thus compromising their faith. Christianity has become mediocre.
Our true and proper appreciation for the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus is by not sinning anymore