DEVOTIONAL 50: THE DARK EDGE OF SIN VERSUS THE LIGHT OF GRACE
You can only experience life’s greatest joy by first looking at its darkest stain- sin. In the midst of the sin message you will find the Grace message. You will find the Resurrection message. You will find the Salvation message. You will find the Christmas message.
In the middle of the beautiful retelling of Christ’s birth in Matthew 1:21, you will find the angel saying this about Mary:
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
That is why He came to earth. The whole reason. Sin necessitated it. His love wiped the sin away. The darkness of sin is repugnant, but it makes the undeserved forgiveness so glorious, generous, and undeserved.
When John the Baptist sees Jesus approaching him for baptism, he says, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” This is the first and foremost identity John the Forerunner of Christ ascribes to Jesus—that He will “take away the sin of the world.” Not make excuses for your sin and mine. Not get a reduced sentence. Take it away!
When I sin, I at first feel stuck, especially if it is a sin that I have battled before and thought I would never do again. Some people call these our pet sins, ones we are very familiar with and may even view as secondary to other sins. Not so. Sin is sin.
When I commit a sin, I am tempted to stay mired in regret and self-contempt. The enemy tries to fasten my eyes on my guilt to the point that I cannot move forward in praise or service, but that is not what Christ would have me do. In the moment of my greatest despair that I have once again sinned, a voice comes into my heart and says, “This is what the Cross was for! This is why I came. Do you think my blood is not effective enough for this sin? If not for this, then what?” Then relief floods my heart, and I have a moment of great gratitude all over again that He willingly died and paid the price, rose again, and CONQUERED ALL SIN! CONQUERED MY SIN! This is what the Cross was for! This is what the Advent was for!
The only way to completely escape sin is through the Lord. This petition from Psalm 19:13 also asks for God’s help:
13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
And I John 1:7 gives us this encouragement about the results of facing our sin, confessing our sin, and turning away from our sin:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
John 16:33 affirms that sin has already been defeated by our Lord:
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. John 16:33.
I look forward to the day when I will no longer be here on earth where sin prowls around trying to engage me and tempt me to react in ways that are not in sync with the character of Jesus, whom I long to emulate. I pray for you and for me that we will turn to Him faster and not linger over the temptation to have our own way and do what we may feel justified to do. The way He treats others is not at all the world’s way. I pray for you and me that we will every day react more in the Lord’s way than in the world’s way. Only Christ can cleanse sin, but He tells us to “Resist!”
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7
This Christmas, allow the light of Jesus to flood your soul. Tell Him you accept all over again His offer to allow His blood to wipe away all your sins, the sins of today, the sins of your past, and the sins that are keeping you from perfect communion with Him. It is the gift He intended for you when He came to earth, and He has already paid for it. Accept today!