Tag: Christ's sacrifice

Second Sunday of Lent, 2025 Righteousness His and Mine

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Today my focus of thankfulness is on Christ’s righteousness. Last Sunday we considered our salvation but today let’s expand this to look at how we now look to God. Because of Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, I am considered righteous before God. When God looks at me, He sees the blood of Christ covering my sins. Praise God! Thank you Jesus.

The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that Jesus, the perfect Son of God died so through faith we could be righteous. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” All the sins of mankind were put upon Christ at the cross, so that we might be freed from the penalty of sin which is death. 2 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,” Isaiah 53:5 explains “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” Our healing is from sin and the penalty of sin which is death. We are reminded of this in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 5:19 tells how we got in this state of sinfulness, though the sins of Adam and Eve and how Christ restored us. “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Our restoration is dependent upon our acceptance of Jesus and faith in His work on the cross. 1 John 1:7 “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.”

Take some time today and thank Jesus for his sacrifice on the cross that allows you to be forgiven, cleansed by His blood and made clean before God. Thank you Jesus!

Linda

Healed and Forgiven in Jesus!

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Our ‘put away’ scripture today comes from Hebrews 9:24-26. The author of Hebrews is writing to Jews explaining how Christ’s coming and His sacrifice was different from the continual sacrifices the priests made at the temple and the sacrifice made once a year for the sins of the people taken into the holy of holies. Christ’s was better and only had to happen once for all time as He was/is the perfect complete and all sufficient sacrifice to atone for our sins and appease God’s wrath. The author also mentions that Christ took his complete sacrifice to heaven itself not into the temple made by man. He took his sacrifice to God himself to make complete atonement for our sins.

For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 

If Christ’s sacrifice had not been complete, once for all time, he would have had to have come and died over and over again. He did not! He came and died once and put to death all sin and took all sin upon himself. 1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” Praise God! Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, I can live covered by His righteousness and healed by His love. Thank you Jesus!

Linda

I Stand Amazed at God’s Mercy, 5th Sunday of Lent

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Lent is a time for reflection about our own sinfulness and prayer and thankfulness for God’s mercy. One of my most precious verses is Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. As you meditate on the truths from Colossians we uncovered this week, let your heart turn to Him in thankfulness. We have so much because of God’s mercy and Christ’s willingness to die for us.

Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead,

I can know Christ, be indwelt by His Holy Spirit and have a relationship with Almighty God through the power of Christ Alone! Colossians 2:16-19 “So don’t put up with anyone pressuring you in details of diet, worship services, or holy days. All those things are mere shadows cast before what was to come; the substance is Christ. 18-19 Don’t tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions. They’re a lot of hot air, that’s all they are. They’re completely out of touch with the source of life, Christ, who puts us together in one piece, whose very breath and blood flow through us. He is the Head and we are the body. We can grow up healthy in God only as he nourishes us.”

I am affirmed in Christ and can ask for His guidance and wisdom from His Word. Colossians 2:20-23 “You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, 21 “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? 22 Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. 23 These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.”

I can have a new nature with a new mindset as I seek to live for Him each day. Colossians 3:1-2 “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.”

I have a life with Christ that is assured, protected and expectant as I await His return! Colossians 3:3-4 “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory”.

I have the power of Christ within guiding me to act in a manner that is pleasing to God for my good and His glory! Colossians 3:5-8 “So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. 7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.

I can seek to love others wholeheartedly and impartially. Colossians 3:9-11. “Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. 11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.”

Here is our Psalm of Praise for this week,

Psalm 103:1-6 Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Have a blessed Sunday that is filled with Praises!

Linda