Some of the most recognized artwork in the world is Bible based – the statue of David by Michelangelo, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee painting by Rembrandt and The Last Supper mural by Leonardo Da Vinci to name just a few. Before the printing press the stories of the Bible were often told through art. Many cathedrals around the world are filled with beautiful stained glass windows, paintings, sculptures and frescoes that depict scenes from the Bible. But these images don’t always reflect the personal love that our Savior, Jesus, has for us – each one of us. Our loving Father so loved us that He sent His own beloved Son from Heaven down to earth to suffer the punishment of every one of our sins. Jesus took the full wrath of God so that each one of us could know the perfect love of God.
What pictures are you seeing? Do you see pictures that show you His perfect love for you? Or are you being shown pictures of an angry God who is judging you? Jesus was punished for every one of our sins – past, present and future. He gave us the gift of salvation and He also gave us another precious gift, His righteousness. He is our representative, He took our place. This is the part that many people miss, even some preachers and pastors, that Jesus bore our sins on Himself when He willingly went to the Cross (He is the Son of God no one “made” Him do that) and each of us helped to crucify him on the Cross – it was each one of our sins that He took from us and placed on Himself and as He suffered He was giving to us His salvation AND righteousness, He gave us His own perfect righteousness so that God will never leave us nor forsake us.
He was not just crucified by us, that was already horrible in itself, but when He took our sins God had to turn His back on His own Son because He is a loving, JUST God and He could not let our sins go unpunished. God could not look at the ugliness of all our sins, that His Son took from us, so He turned His back on His own son and let the wrath and fiery judgment that we could not withstand fall on the perfect sacrifice, His Son. For hours Jesus hung on the cross, suspended between Heaven and earth and suffered the punishment of every sin until He finally cried “FINISHED” and then “Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Having said this, he breathed his last.”
Jesus was not “killed” He chose to go the Cross. He had a choice and He chose to take our sins upon Himself and to bear the fiery judgment for each one of them, past present and future. And as if that were not enough, in exchange, He gave to us His righteousness, His right standing with God so that through Jesus we would know our loving Father because the price of our sins was fully paid by Him. The blood of Jesus has washed us clean and when we accept Him as our Savior we become the righteousness of God IN HIM and that is a gift that cannot be taken away.
The people who say “you are going to Hell” or “you are an abomination” or “you are the rejecting the image of God within you” do not understand Grace or they have forgotten it. They are living in the Old Testament, under the 10 Commandments, and they are condemning others and in doing so, condemning themselves without realizing it. Others live under a mixture of Law and Grace. They think things like “if I do this I am blessed but I have to be careful to do everything right and confess every sin or I will lose my salvation.” They are living sin conscious instead of living life loved by their Savior. Before going to the Cross Jesus gave us His Peace and His Joy. At the Cross, after He had borne the full wrath of God for every sin, He gave us HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. We receive ALL of the blessings of the righteous not because of anything that we do but as a GIFT from our Savior, Christ Jesus. Grace is a gift that Jesus is offering to you. It is not earned, it is not deserved, it is a gift. You are loved, you are forgiven, you are saved and through Jesus you can start to learn just how perfectly loved you are by your Father who so loved you that He sent is own Son to suffer and die in your place. And then God raised His Son from the dead, and when we believe in Jesus, we are born again as a new creation in Him and Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit, to live in us to help us, not to condemn us.
I pray, that as you are reading this, the strangleholds of all of your wrong beliefs and wrong thoughts will be cast out in Jesus’ Mighty Name. May His perfect love, His perfect peace and His perfect joy flood your heart. May the Holy Spirit guide you to the right Word of God and to anointed preaching that will bring hope and His Light into your life so that you can live every day with Jesus as the center and that the knowledge and revelation of His Truth and Grace increases to overflowing in your life so that it flows from you to others. May the faith picture of His perfect love for you be firmly planted in your heart. Amen.
