Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, Thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. Psalm 85:2 KJV
Again, we see the eternal truth of God's Word laid out here: God hates sin. All the bible stories that we read all establish and support this truth. Right from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to Lucifer who disobeyed God and were all punished, there is no one who can escape the consequences of sin, except you turn to God for forgiveness and cleansing. Even in the new dispensation, when grace is available in abundant measure, God's view of sin has not changed. In line with his own requirements, He paid the price for sin with the life of his son, so that we could walk away from the consequences of our sin and take hold of the life that is abundantly available in Christ. That is the offer from God through Christ, and the offer stands for as long as I have the breath of life in me. The writer of this psalm must have had a personal experience of this mercy, which is clear from the words of today's extract.
When a man knows and appreciates what he has received from God, his life will show it. When a man knows what he has been saved from, he does not need to be compelled to serve and follow God. Indeed, if God did not forgive, none of us would be alive today. We would have had to offer daily sacrifices of blood of bulls and goats, which only provided a cover from God's judgment. It could not deal with the problem of sin. The blood of Jesus is the sole and permanent solution to the problem of sin. Only that which is eternal can relate with that which is spritual.
The writer here knew what he had received, and could appreciate God for it. Do I know what I have been saved from? Do I live daily in that consciousness, grateful to God every day for what he has done? Am I a living and breathing testimony to the power and might of God, who, in spite of my failings and weaknesses, offered me eternal life, even at a time when I did not even care who he was? When he hung on the cross, and pronounced those words: 'It is finished", he put a permanent end to the power and problem of sin, finished the work of redemption, and paved the way for me to access the Father directly, without the need of any middleman or prayer contractor.
When God looks at me now, he sees the blood of his son, shed on the cross, and speaking of mercy. The blood covers sin completely, so that its effect and power are totally nullified. Before I jump up and start to claim: "I receive", I must be sure that the blood works for me the way God intended for it to work. The blood is to offer redemption and salvation, not condemnation. For all who have come to trust in Jesus, the blood works the way it should. For all who reject the blood to the end of their natural lives, the blood will speak in judgment before the throne.
The key is to sort out my reaction and response to the blood now, while I still have time. God has done his own part, offering life in full to all who come to believe in him. The devil will fight to deny this truth in my heart, but you should know that the devil's fate is already sealed, and he wants as many people to suffer with him. Don't listen to the father of lies; listen to the Father of Life and Truth, whose words can be trusted, no matter the generation and dispensation in which he speaks. Trust him; if he says you are forgiven, it does not matter what any man says. If he says you are safe, you truly are. God's time of favour is here.
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