Thank you for joining today as we seek God’s wisdom together. Let us begin with prayer.
“Lord Jesus, I ask that you search our hearts and see if there be anything wicked in them. We ask that your Holy Spirit show us what you are saying to us today. I ask that the words on this page would jump out to us as you speak to our hearts and minds truth and life. In Jesus name, Amen.”
Romans 3:21-26
“But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished; 26for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
What the Word is Saying
Hello everyone! I was away for a couple days; I had some personal issues to work through and a class on Paul on I was finishing including a ten-page paper for my master's degree in theology. It is the completion of that paper that has caused me to revisit this portion of scripture with you. As I find it to be central to Paul’s beliefs and mission. The reason is that the atonement is the reason that we have been set free and the reason that everyone both Jew and Gentile can become a Child of God. Before I get there though I am going to examine first what the day of atonement was to the Jewish community and how Jesus became the fulfillment of that sacrificial rite and freed us all from sin.
The Day of Atonement was a day observed every year in Israel and is found in Leviticus chapter 16. The people would all gather together and seek forgiveness for their sins. The High Priest would go through a series of ecumenical rights to cleanse himself and his priests in order to go into the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle and perform the sacrifices for the priest's sins first and then the people of Israel second. The High priest would select a bull for his sins and the priest's sins. Then two goats would be selected and after casting lots one was used for the blood sacrifice for the sins of the people and the other was to be the “scapegoat” that would be released into the wilderness carrying the people’s sins. Then He would enter the Most Holy place and light incense. This would provide a barrier between the priest and God’s glory so that he would not be consumed by it. Then he would take the bull’s blood and sprinkle it on the mercy seat which is the cover over the Ark of the Covenant and the place where God’s presence rested when He was among the people. He would do this seven times for his sins and those of his priests. Then he would slit the throat of the goat and sprinkle its blood onto the mercy seat 7 times for the sins of the people. Upon finishing this the High Priest would exit the Most Holy Place and in the presence of the people he would lay his hands on the scapegoat. Confessing all the sins of the people and “laying them on the scape goat.” Then the goat would be released into the wilderness carrying the sins of the people never to return.
A couple of things to take notice of here are that the people looked to the mercy seat as the propitiation or payment for their sins was paid in the blood sprinkled on the seat for their sins. Next that in placing the sins of the people on the scapegoat the High Priest released them into the wilderness never to return. These are significant because Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of this process. In that when we look on Him and the Cross our sins are Propitiated by his blood that was shed for us. The cross then in effect has become the new mercy seat. Secondly, when Jesus died on that cross, He carried all our sins with Him to the wilderness of Death or eternal separation from God. Lastly, because Jesus conquered death when He rose from the grave our sins were left in the wilderness in Him. Therefore, we are no longer chained to sin, but through grace can now live a life free of sin.
When we confess Jesus as Lord, we acknowledge that He is the ruler of our lives. We are no longer in control but, by faith have submitted to His authority and power. We are acknowledging what the Pharisees and people who clamored for his death did not do and confess that He is the Messiah and the Son of God. This is important because it absolves us of our control over our lives. But it also acknowledges that Jesus Himself is God. The divinity of Christ cannot be understated. If Jesus was not fully God, He could not live a sinless life and if He did not live a sinless life than His sacrifice on the cross is insufficient to cover our sins. He was also fully man in that though He was conceived by the Holy Spirit when He overshadowed the virgin Mary, he was Adopted by Joseph making Him the true Heir to the throne of David through Joseph’s bloodline. This allowed Him to be exposed to the Sin that plagues us and then resist it and not do it. It is because He did that that He became the perfect atonement for everyone’s sin. He was sinless and wrongfully put to death on the cross. Therefore, when we look on that cross and confess Him as Lord, He takes the penalty due for us upon Himself. Then carries our sin into death and returns having left the curse of Sin behind.
What an amazing Love that is. That the creator of the Universe would come together, and they would make a plan for our redemption from the fall of Adam before the foundations of the world. You see as an All-knowing God; He knew beforehand that Adam and Eve would put the curse of sin upon us all. In His great Love then He determined to send His Son Jesus by the conception of the Holy Spirit in Mary into the world to be the “propitiation” for our sins. We need only look to the cross and acknowledge He did it for us by faith.
Maybe you are saying to yourself that you have never surrendered your life to Jesus. Sure, you have been to church, you know the story of what He did, but He truly has never become the Lord of your life. I pray that you will submit to Him today. Right now, where you are, pray this prayer with me out loud. For the bible teaches:
“But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”— that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation (Romans 10: 8-10).
The oral confession of Jesus as Lord is your public proclamation o everyone that you have given up control and made Him your master. Next the public proclamation is the testimony of your faith that Jesus once died and then rose from the grave.
Therefore, right where you are; proclaim aloud to everyone: “Jesus I confess that you are Lord of all and submit my life to you. I believe that you came to this earth and live a sinless life, I believe you suffered and died for my sins on the cross, I believe that they took your lifeless body and put it into a tomb, and I believe that three days later you rose from the grave. I confess to you that I am a sinner and thank you that your shed blood on the cross paid the price for my sin and that you then carried those sins with you to the wilderness of death and left them there when you rose from the dead. I ask that you send me your Holy Spirit to fill me with the power to overcome the sin in my life and lead me into all truth in Jesus Name, Amen.”
If you prayed that prayer, I urge you to contact us here so that we might come beside you and hold you up in prayer as you begin your journey with Jesus. I assure you that we have all been where you are. We may have committed different sins, but we are just as guilty, nonetheless. We all needed forgiveness and someone else supported us as we began our Journey with Him.
Thank you for joining me today as we searched the scriptures for What the Word is Saying. I pray that God will send His Holy Spirit into our lives anew and fill us again with His love and His purpose for us. So that we can fulfill the mission He left us in bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world.
“Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” lockman.org.
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