Highlight
It is not the how but the Who! It is not about the manner but the Source!
We don’t have to agree on how the goodness of God has manifested in our respective lives. We need only to agree that God is good; His goodness as seen and demonstrated in His only Beloved Son as Jesus the Man from Nazareth.
To be entangled in an argument over the how inevitably distracts us from the Source. It produces unnecessary conflicts as one tries to negate the truth of God’s goodness as manifested in the life of another.
Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
So pack up your troubles and look to Jesus the Christ; the only Beloved Son of God!
Foundation Scripture
1 John 1:9 [AMP]
If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].
The confession of sins in
1 John 1:9 is not the sin of my actions (sin as verb) but the source of my actions (sin as noun).
Noun is a place, thing or person and verb are action words.
The confession of this underpinning sin (noun), the source of my sins (verb), and how God has freed me from it will inevitably leads to praise and thanksgiving.
The Confession
I confess the underlying sin, the source of my actions. That underlying sin that has so engulfed me. The hideous sin under whom I was powerless and enslaved.
Romans 5:12 [AMP]
Therefore, as sin came into the world through one man, and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men, [no one being able to stop it or to escape its power] because all men sinned.
“All men sinned” as in all men have been captured by sin [noun]; satan himself.
All of my actions are propelled by that sin; fear, worries, anxieties, lack, condemnation and the likes; the formative process leading to death.
Powerless
Romans 7 describe how powerless I am against sin.
Romans 7:15-21
15 For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled, bewildered]. I do not practice or accomplish what I wish, but I do the very thing that I loathe [which my moral instinct condemns].
16 Now if I do [habitually] what is contrary to my desire, [that means that] I acknowledge and agree that the Law is good (morally excellent) and that I take sides with it.
17 However, it is no longer I who do the deed, but the sin [principle] which is at home in me and has possession of me.
18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. [I have the intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it out.]
19 For I fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am [ever] doing.
20 Now if I do what I do not desire to do, it is no longer I doing it [it is not myself that acts], but the sin [principle] which dwells within me [fixed and operating in my soul].
21 So I find it to be a law (rule of action of my being) that when I want to do what is right and good, evil is ever present with me and I am subject to its insistent demands.
22 For I endorse and delight in the Law of God in my inmost self [with my new nature].
23 But I discern in my bodily members [in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh] a different law (rule of action) at war against the law of my mind (my reason) and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs [in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh].
24 O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from [the shackles of] this body of death?
25 O thank God! [He will!] through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) our Lord! So then indeed I, of myself with the mind and heart, serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
Gratitude
Knowing how hopelessly helpless I am against sin [noun] causes me to be grateful for what the Son of God has done as Jesus the Man.
Romans 5:6 tells me that while I was yet in weakness [powerless to help myself], at the fitting time Christ died for (in behalf of) the ungodly.
If God did not send His only Beloved Son to earth as Jesus the Man from Nazareth to be the Messiah, the Christ, His Anointed One, to undo all the works of the devil in my life [
1 John 3:8], I would still be living a life of torment, agony and frustrations every day.
The amazing part lies in the fact that God lifted me out of the tyrannical rulership of satan when I was not even aware I was under such rulership. In fact, I pinned all the blame on God Himself for my sufferings.
Hence
Romans 5:10 says, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more [certain], now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved (daily delivered from sin’s dominion) through His [resurrection] life.”
Why did God do that? It is because He loves me!
But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us.
What Do You Say
I am always reminded of the question posed by our Lord Jesus Christ: “Who do you yourselves say that I am” [
Matthew 16:15,
Mark 8:29,
Luke 9:20]. These days, I ask myself this question: “Am I regurgitating what other people are saying about Him like a broken record or have I seen Him for myself?”
We don’t have to agree on how the goodness of God has manifested in our respective lives. We need only to agree that
God is good; His goodness and faithfulness as seen and demonstrated in His only Beloved Son as Jesus the Man from Nazareth.
He Who promised is faithful! [
Hebrews 10:23].
Take for instance the centurion [
Matthew 8:8] and the woman with the issue of blood for 12 years [
Luke 8:44]. The former took Jesus at His Word while the latter needed to take His helm.
Should the two dispute over how the goodness of God was manifested in their respective lives, it would be a never-ending argument. To be entangled in an argument over the manner inevitably distracts us from the Source. It produces unnecessary conflicts as one tries to negate the truth of God’s goodness as manifested in the life of another.
It is not the how but the Who! It is not about the manner but the Source!
Before the crucifixion and resurrection of God’s only Beloved Son as Jesus the Man from Nazareth, I was not tempted but ordered; the order of satan. I had no choice but to comply. But after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, satan can only tempt but not order. This is because Jesus the Christ has disarmed satan and rendered him powerless to order me.
What remains is the choice I make.
Do I submit to the temptation or do I rise above it with the power that Christ Jesus has died to give me?
This reminds me of the account of the blind man in
John 5:8 where Jesus told the blind man to “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk”. To me, it means this: “Don’t lament over my own weaknesses. Use the resurrection power that Christ Jesus has died to give me”.
What Now
In Christ Jesus is the Promised Land; in Him is the rest.
When pressure is mounting and all odds are against me, God says to find my rest in Him. But I say, “No Lord! It can’t be that simple! It sounds so impractical! I must do something about it!”
So instead of being a Joshua or a Caleb, I ended up like one of the other ten spies. I deemed my problems bigger than Jesus the Christ!
I have done all that I could except going to Christ Jesus. And what did I find?
NOTHING!
It was nothing but devastating disappointments and paying a price that I could ill afford.
So what Now?
Christ Jesus, to You I come!
Pack Up!
Pack Up Your Troubles!
Don’t Worry, Be Happy!
The Lord Jesus Christ is the reason I can be happy!
“Like good little children; Don’t worry, be happy” [
Matthew 18:3].
Repent
Change the way I think about my life!
If God did not even spare His only Beloved Son in Whom His soul delights, but gave Him up for me, how shall He not also with Him freely and graciously give me all things! [
Romans 8:32].
My heavenly Father knows that I have need for all these things but seek first to know what Jesus has done for me because all the promises of God are Yes and Amen in Him. (
Matthew 6:31-33,
2 Corinthians 1:20).
When I know what Jesus the Christ has done for me; that He has made me acceptable to God and hence secured all blessings for me, I have peace and joy. [
Romans 14:17]
And satan cannot devour me with the shadow of fear that causes me to do things leading to miseries. Perfect love; God’s love for me, casts out all fears [
1 John 4:18].
Lord Jesus the Christ ! You’re the Man! Thank You!
