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Listen to Guilty of Love
by Dana Sigmon while you read.
Why do we need atonement? Why did Jesus have to die on the Cross? Especially after watching the Passion of the Christ, many were wondering, "Why do we need atonement?" "Why did Jesus have to die?" "Why crucifixion on the cross? Why the blood?" I never understood this myself until I read the first chapter of "Transforming the Inner Man," by John and Paula Sandford. Most people would say that Jesus died on the cross so that we could be forgiven of our sins - and that is true. BUT that is only a part of the passion of Christ. To confess in order to be forgiven of our sins, one sin at a time, is a step but it's like putting little band-aids over a big problem. Christ alone provided for our healing, forgiveness of our sins and the solution for the root problem: our old sinful nature. Everyone who witnessed the crucifixion on the cross understood what it meant to sacrifice a lamb to atone for their sins. The passion of the Christ revealed that Jesus came be our lamb and to shed His BLOOD, to completely blot out any record of our sins. He voluntarily laid his torn body down on the cross not only so that we could be forgiven of our sins but also so that He could give us His righteousness (right standing with God) as a gift. We all have tried to improve our behavior to make ourselves acceptable to God, but we still felt separated from God because of our selfishness and intent to have our own way. Man has always wanted to find his own way to God, hence the many religions. What we really need is a new heart or to have our heart transformed. It is the CROSS that is the solution for our sinful old nature. We have many sinful practices today that are rooted in automatic fleshly reactions that have been set up since our childhood. We were wounded, we reacted with sinful thinking, we excused sinful behavior and defended our right to be sinful! In spite of the passion of the Christ, many of us still do not trust God to have our best interest at heart. Most Christians believe that Jesus endured crucifixion on the cross so that we could be forgiven of our sins and our sinful old nature will gradually improve. The fact is, our sinful old nature could never be improved but Jesus died so that it could be replaced with a divine new nature. He did die as our substitute for our sins, but He also died so that "our sinful old nature could be reckoned dead on the cross..." Romans 6:6 and so that we could be receive a divine new nature instead. Romans 6:5-7 "If we have been united with Him like this in His death on the cross, we will certainly also be united with Him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old man was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin- 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin." Secular psychologists (and some Christian counselors) would mend and build our self-images so that we can have confidence in ourselves. Christ would have us identify with His crucifixion on the cross so that our confidence is no longer in our self-image but we have a Christ-in-us image. "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13 Jesus' death on the cross wasn't just so that we could have a never-ending lifestyle of guilt and confession to be forgiven of our sins one by one. He died on the cross so that He could give us a whole new eternal life - past, present and future. He wants to be invited to live His divine life in us, as us and through us. For the old sinful nature, there is no healing, but only death and rebirth. To try to mend or band-aid the sinful old nature, is to work against the cross. To teach that the Cross didn't really bring our old nature to death and that we have to do it, is "religion." We can admit that we have true guilt because we have a true savior and the death of our old nature is as real as His death. We cannot peel off layers of corruption until we get down to the pure and holy us. Jesus took our sin, as our substitute, and wants to give us His righteousness as a gift. He took our stripes and wants to give us His healing. All we have to do is to confess our inability to make ourselves righteous and ask Him to transform us, by a death and a rebirth. Read St. John 3 He alone has the power to heal every wound and make every weakness into a strength. Forgiveness says we are no longer guilty and erases the record of our sin. Because of Jesus' death on the cross so that we could come back from death and be born into a whole new life that lasts forever and ever. He paid our price for us and will redeem every experience that we have ever had, take the pain out of it, and leave us with new wisdom that we can impart to others. If you would like to order more band-aids, see www.medibadge.com But, wouldn't you like to lay all your self-improvement plans on the cross and invite Jesus to come into your heart and renew every area today? Jesus is not a time creature; He will go back in time and heal every ouch. He doesn't just band-aid our old natures. When Jesus heals and restores, its no longer like our little band-aid said: "the ouch is under here." You may also want to read Is Jesus Messiah? Why Did Jesus Come? |
