Oh, the devastation... To look behind and see that your intentions in response to your sin were good, but certainly not holy. You see, God has plan. In fact, He always has. His plan involves Him and what He accomplished on our behalf through Christ's death and resurrection as the propitiation (full payment) for our sins. We read in 1 John 2:2, "And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world." And again in chapter 4, "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:9) In Christ, through Christ, and because of Christ there is no other payment due. Recent circumstances, have had me evaluate some life decisions and take inventory of the motives that led to those decisions. Hindsight with the gentle nudge and whisper of the Holy Spirit offers a much clearer view of those times.
Sorrow, in regards to our disobedience, is healthy when it leads repentance and the acceptance of the forgiveness offered. But when that sorrow, recognition, and confession of sin lead to the self-righteous plight of "fixing" our mess up for God or vowing to make it right or make it up to Him as a sacrifice, we have aborted His plan entirely. This is not what He requires. That response takes the fragmented dust that's scattered on the ground due to our sin and turns it to a mirky, muddy mess. If we'll place it in the hands of our Father instead, He'll make something beautiful of it... He's a master Potter! It's no longer sacrifices He's looking for. That was old covenant. That was pre-Calvary. He's looking for hearts fully committed to love Him and do so tangibly through obedience.
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."1 Samuel 15:22-23.
While fully realizing the weight of our sin and being grieved by that sin, we must also fully realize the payment that has been made and fully allow ourselves the freedom to rejoice in the acceptance of that payment. The debt has been sufficiently cleared. While we may walk out the natural consequences of that sin, Father looks on us through the blood of Jesus and sees us white as snow. "Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." Isaiah 1:18. It takes faith to believe that. It is also by faith that we are made righteous. We are not able to add to what occurred on Calvary and we are equally unable to add to this propitiation to make us more acceptable to God than He has already made us. To try to add to what He has already accomplished, is dead works, not done by faith, but in fear, doubt, and pride. There is nothing that we can do to "make it up to Him." Rather, we are to come to Him with a broken and contrite heart looking to Him as the only sufficient solution to our problems, whether self-inflicted or endured at the hands of others.
Jesus is enough. Repentance and obedience is what the Father desires from us that we might fully walk in fellowship with Him. If you are finding yourself in a place of sin, confess it to the Father, who already knows, and turn wholeheartedly away from it. Then, watch. Watch your loving Father move mightily on your behalf. Redeemer is who He is. For us to make promises to Him to "make up" for the wrong we have done, is in some way speaking insufficiency to what was accomplished on the cross. Rather, asking the Father what He would have you do in response to your sin, if anything, is so much healthier than telling Him what you will do in response to your sin.
Check out a picture of our Father's heart when we return to Him in true repentance!
Luke 15:
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. (emphasis mine.)
No greater love is there!
Seek His face and you will find Him, He's waiting to celebrate your return to Him!
May nothing hinder your full embrace of the Father. May you fully submit your life to the work of His hands and trust that everything He is doing He is doing with intention. May repentance be your immediate response if sin finds its way into your life and may you quickly be reconciled to the Father. May you walk in the light and not be tempted to go astray. May you find yourself apart of a body of believers that love you well as you navigate this life in preparation for the life to come!
"But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand."Isaiah 64:8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZUCtUOPX7I, "Prodigal", Sidewalk Prophets
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