How
Bad Is It?
The other morning
my wife received a text message at 6:00am which indicated that her school had
been delayed for two hours. No reason
was given but it was weather related. About 90 minutes later she received
another message that school had been canceled for the day. As I drove to work a little later I did
notice that the roads were a little icy but I did not think that they were that
bad.
Isn’t that the way
it is with so many things in life? We
see them from our own point of view. We
look at a situation based upon our own standards of what is good or bad. When the weather is bad in the winter and the
roads are icy, snow covered and the wind is blowing that is not good. School administrators have criteria that they
use when delaying or canceling school for the day.
Don’t we often
fall prey to viewing the Law of God in much the same way when it speaks to our sins? It is easy to say, “Well, it’s not really too
bad.” “It doesn’t harm anyone.” “It’s only a little blemish and can be
cleaned up.” Unfortunately, that is how
our old sinful Adam operates. We are
great at “rationalizing” our sins away.
Just how bad is the
situation regarding sin? We know that God’s
criterion has not changed. Sin is sin
and it needs to be repented of. Paul
said: “For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God. For the wages
of sin is death.” Romans 3:23
& 6:23a.
That sounds real bad and that we need someone to cancel
things out for us.
That is not
something that we could do for ourselves but it would have to be heaven
sent. That came in the person of the Son
of God, Jesus Christ. The words of John
the Baptist come to mind: “Behold, the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. Following His baptism, Jesus was led into the
wilderness as the Lamb of God already bearing our sins. In the wilderness Jesus was tempted and He overcame
temptation earned our salvation.
Paul would later
write of Jesus: “He made Him who knew no
sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in
Him.” II Corinthians 5:21.
Upon the cross Jesus would suffer the pain and the agony of
a sinner deserving of death. There He
would give up His perfect life in place of our lives which we think are “not
too bad” from our perspective.
Jesus’ blood would
flow as the cleansing we needed for our sins.
Paul wrote: “In Him we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to
the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us.” Ephesians 1:7-8a. Peter states: “Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver
or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with
precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” I Peter 1:18-19.
Jesus dies on the
cross the death we deserved and He rises in victory on Easter Sunday. That victory has become ours in our Baptism. How bad is it? What was a really bad scenario has been
changed to good by God’s love and mercy in Christ Jesus. Thanks be to God that
our status now says we are forgiven and redeemed!
