Waiting - Holy Saturday

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  Hebrews 12:1-3 NASB

When God uses repentance to turn us in His direction, to revive us and reconcile us into right relationship through the blood of Jesus, He graciously restores us and invites us to reach others who—like us—have been singed by sinful choices. As the body of Christ, we receive healing as we begin to walk in the fullness of forgiveness, repentance, reconciliation, and restoration. 

Let’s stop the busy and spend time in prayer with Holy Spirit to understand the incredible gift Jesus gave us when He gave His life to cover the sin of mankind. 

Romans 6:21-23 NASB Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Apostle Paul begins Romans 6:23 by saying, “The wages of sin is death.” 

We were essentially dead in our transgressions, our sins against God, leaving us destined for eternal separation from Him. But Paul continues the verse with the Lord’s redemptive truth: “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

Because of Jesus, the debt of our sin has been paid, we are more than enough - He loves us through all circumstances- and we get to spend forever in the presence of God!  Hallelujah! That leaves me breathless! 

Because He is perfect, God simply cannot be in close proximity to sin. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were required to frequently sacrifice an unblemished lamb to atone for sin. The offering had to be perfect to cover the debt of their sins - it was the only way a person could stay in right standing with God.

John 1:29 NIV The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Jesus Christ is God’s coming to dwell among us- His perfect offering!  referred to as the “Lamb of God”, because His is the sacrifice on the cross that covered the sin of humanity. 

Yes! Again! Amazing grace! One of the many miracles of the cross is that it reversed the curse of Adam and Eve’s sin: Just as that one act of disobedience separated all of humanity from God, the sacrifice made by one perfect person, Jesus Christ, covered the sin of all people and made a way for reconciliation with God our Heavenly Father. Because Jesus offered Himself for us, we have the opportunity to be in relationship with God again. When God looks at us, He doesn’t see our sin - He sees the beauty of His Son. 

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 NASB Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

My friends, when our Saviour, when Jesus Christ, died on the cross, He forever took the weight of sin off of those who believe in Him, those who recognize Jesus Christ as our risen Saviour, those who declare He was crucified and conquering death was resurrected.  Amazing grace! Thank You Holy Spirit! we can freely receive Jesus Christ’s  forgiveness, live without guilt, and feel welcome and embraced in the presence of God, AND more importantly share those same gifts with others as they walk their road to salvation! 

Today, the Saturday after Christ’s crucifixion, is sombre, think about how His friends, family, the world was aching, mourning, filled with fear and uncertainty, Tomorrow we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, let’s remember that His death purchased not only our forgiveness from sin, but the authority to throw off the weight of guilt. The debt of our sin, even the darkest sin, has been paid for by the blood of Jesus. Walk in His freedom today! 

God’s love for us is greater than we could ever imagine, and that He has taken our sin so far away from us that we cannot fully grasp the incredible distance. Do not turn your back on Him. GOD does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Jeremiah 33:8 NIV I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me.

Hebrews 9:14 NIV How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

Wow! Redeemed! Covered by the grace of God! Walking with Holy Spirit in Christ’s presence!

Revelation 12:10-12 NASB Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.

When Jesus exchanged our sin for His life, hung on the cross, He made us brand new. Who we were before has no bearing on who we are now. We are God’s children, wholly forgiven, covered by grace, empowered to do great work for His glory. This alone should inform our identity. The voice of shame that contradicts that truth is simply a lie.

Our blameless Savior took on the cross to pay for our sin, He showed us perfect love. The power of that love defeated all the side effects of sin and darkness in the world, including fear.

Whoa-  I replay this often when fear is grabbing my heals-  hold onto the truth that Jesus Christ’s ultimate display of love on the cross, claimed victory over fear, over self loathing, over bitterness towards our brothers and sisters, the Lord of heaven and earth invites us, you and me, to share in that victory. He wants us to live with peace in our mind, heart, and spirit. And! it’s up to us to receive and walk in the victorious power of His love. 

In Romans 8:38, the apostle Paul said he was convinced that nothing could separate us from the love of God. We, too, have the opportunity to be that unshakeably confident in God’s love for us and abide in the peace provided by that love. If you ever have a moment where you question the extent of God’s love for you, all you have to do is look to the cross.

When fear comes knocking, we have a choice to make: Let it overtake us, or remember Jesus’ victorious act of selfless love and choose to believe that He has won the battle for our salvation. 

When everything seems to be going wrong in this world, stand firm on the truth that this place has no power over us. Reach out for Jesus, His peace, and walk forward to Him in confidence that you are fully covered by His love!

John 14:27 NASB  Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

Take a deep breath, in the quiet or noise of where you are at right now and step into Easter remembering what God says about you, His beloved child, and take captive any thought that doesn’t align with the Bible, His living written Word.

Romans 10:9 NASB That 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. 

If you don’t know Jesus personally yet will you pray with this prayer? 

Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of God and that You died for my sins. I bring myself to the foot of the cross and confess You as my Lord and Savior. Come into my life and change me into the person You created me to be. I thank You with all my heart. Amen.

God, Jesus, Holy Spirit wrapped Himself up in human flesh to walk among us, He became an approachable, contactable, knowable man, hallelujah! Jesus Christ!  What a mysterious, historical and yet wondrous truth! God became a man, experiencing everything of this world while living a perfect, sinless human life. 

He became one of us to save us. Jesus, Immanuel – ‘God with us’.

From the manger in Bethlehem, Jesus lived – loving people, identifying with people and touching people at the point of their need.

Jesus went to the cross, and from the cross to the grave. He arose, He reigns and is coming again! 

His name is Jesus! Saviour and God-anointed King, worthy of all our worship, deepest honour and song filled praises.