The Good News After the Bad News

The issue of sin is a gloomy one. It is even more so when it becomes apparent that sin is not only an out there issue, but an in here issue. There is Good News, though. God is not unaware of our tremendous need. He knows that are dead, lost, and helpless in our sin, and he has provided the solution in person of Jesus Christ.
God is just. He must punish the sin that seeks to rob him of that which can only be his. God is also merciful. He loves to show mercy. Our sin deserves God’s punishment, but God in his mercy has provided another way. This is through Jesus Christ. It is through what Jesus Christ did and what Jesus Christ promises.
Jesus is God. He is God who took on humanity and lived the sinless life. Jesus was faced with every temptation that we face. The writer of the book of Hebrews said, “we do not have a high priest [Jesus] who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Every issue that you face, Jesus faced. There is no pressure, issue or temptation that you deal with that Jesus has not met head on and been victorious. This is the Good News, because we all struggle with issues that constantly seem to drag us down. We all feel the weight of failure before God. We have all felt unworthy. God knows those issues, and he has overcome them. And that victory can be given to you. Instead of the defeat and weight of failure, we can be credited with Jesus’ victory and freedom.
How? Jesus lived the life we could not live and then died the death we deserved to die. Death on the cross was one of the most horrible manners of death. The pain would be excruciating, slow, and brutal. But the physical pain of the cross was not the worst suffering that Jesus faced. He also faced the full wrath of God, paying the full penalty for sin. The punishment that God demanded for sin was fully paid by Jesus. God’s justice had been satisfied, and those who have faith in Christ stand before God as righteous. But that isn’t all, Jesus did not remain in the grave. In a demonstration of the satisfaction of God’s justice and of Jesus’ victory of his enemies, he rose from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection is the proof of his victory for us. Because of what Jesus did, we can believe in what Jesus promises us. The apostle Paul wrote, “For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus’ record of withstanding temptation is given to you through his death and resurrection.
Jesus not only promises us a new record before God, but a new heart. Our heart before Jesus was enslaved to sin. That enslavement has been broken through Christ and he has given us a new heart with new desires. Through Christ our passions are turned so that we long to honor God and enjoy him. We are given the Holy Spirit who empowers and guides our lives. We still live in a world that is dominated by sin and we will continue to feel the affects of sin in our own lives until heaven, but we begin to know the freedom from the bondage of sin.
And the benefit of a new record before God and a new heart for God is added with a new creation. God will completely redeem his world. We will be completely delivered from the power and presence of sin in this world. There will be no more death or pain. Our bodies and souls will be made new and whole. The world will be as it was intended.