Meeting Jesus and Following HimMuestra

MEETING JESUS AS LORD AND SAVIOUR : 

The first revelation that we have in our lives is that of salvation, that is to say that we are separated from God because of our sin. Not that we have done anything in particular to do that, we are born that way. Because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, sin is part of our human nature and we deserve to live in hell forever (cf. Romans 3 :23). Because we are distanced from God and the fact that it is impossible to approach Him ourselves, it’s God who came and united with us where we are….In His love, God has dealt with the problem by giving His Son Jesus on the cross in our place so that we can be reconciled with Him (cf. Romans 5 :8). Jesus Christ, fully human and fully God, born of the Virgin Mary and having lived a perfect life on Earth, freely chose to give up His life for us on the cross, and by doing this, taking upon Himself the sin that separated us from God.

Sin is not such and such an action in particular, and there is no measure of sin either, that is to say that no one sin is worse than another, there is no such thing as big and small sins. They all lead us to death (cf. Romans 6 :23). Only the consequences in our lives differ. In fact, sin is everything that distances us from God and which displeases Him, not only the bad things that we have done, but also those good things that we haven’t done. Sin is everything that is against God’s will and aim, for and in our lives. The moment you meet Jesus, you discover He who is without sin, perfectly just and pure. Everything within you which is not aligned to His will is instantly bought to light. We will speak more about this in the next chapter. Jesus paid the price for our salvation.

What saves us is the revelation that we have of Jesus as the Christ, the answer for our lives and the faith in the works that He has accomplished for us by dying in our place for our sins. Sin destroys us and as we live with Him, He will show us what isn’t right and we will have to confess to Him, that is, recognise our sins, and ask Him to forgive us specifically while deciding to separate ourselves from it, to not go back to square one. In 1 John 1 :9 we are given an extraordinary promise : “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  Therefore we can have the assurance of forgiveness, and this regardless of what our sin might be. This verse allows us also to get rid of the accusation that we may have with ourselves. Because if God Himself has forgiven us, who can then come and accuse us? Accusing your own self, is to deny the work of forgiveness carried out by Jesus, in order to live a transparent life with Him. It is imperative in order to be His disciples.

Sin means literally “missing the target”. God has an objective for each and every one of us and it is only in the relation of intimacy with Him that we can live the life that He has planned for us. So we need to know how to renounce our sins, which means recognising that our life isn’t going in the right direction and isn’t hitting the target God has for us. Then we are to choose, change and enter into His projects. God has great things for your life and the best is yet to come. It’s up to you to choose how you want to live…

Take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit to come and meet with you and to lead you on the path that God has planned for your life.

REFLECTIONS :

Meeting Jesus and recognising Him as your Lord and Saviour, is to be saved and to enter into a life fully dependant on Him 

Read Isaiah 59 :1-8 and take a moment to answer the following questions :

➤ What do you think sin is ? And what does the Bible say sin is ?

➤ In Romans 12 :1, what does Paul exhort us to do ?

➤ In 1 John 1 :9, what allows us to have the assurance that we are forgiven and purified of our sins ?

MY DECISION :

What I have understood for my own personal life : 

What I am deciding to do in my life based upon what I have just learnt :

What you decide to do today will determine who and what you will be tomorrow ! 

Adapted from "un disciple en marche" copyright 2018 by Luc Favre, published by Vie Victorieuse. All rights reserved.