More Than Forgiveness

I got spanked when I was a kid. It wasn't often, thankfully, but when I did get spanked I totally deserved it (like the day I broke the kitchen light bulb after my mother told me to stop playing with the broom, then I said a "bad word" and was sent to my room where I promptly decided to put on my boots and kick out the window...yikes!). There were just some days when I fell apart losing all sense of right and wrong and my dad made it clear how he felt about it. I hated getting spanked, but it seemed to jar me back into reality. It's amazing how a spanking could help me clearly see that I was out of line (sometimes WAY out of line) and I needed an "attitude adjustment."

 

If you had any spankings when you were young, you know the ugly truth about them. They HURT. They are embarrassing. They HURT. (Did I mention that they hurt?) I guess that is the point of any sort of punishment whether you are being grounded, spanked, or forced to stand in a corner. The point is that there is an uncomfortable consequence of your actions that will hopefully deter you from repeating the offense. 

 

When you compare a childhood spanking to the Biblical consequence for grown up sin, it doesn't seem all that bad. The Bible tells us that the punishment for sin is death. (I think I'd prefer the spanking, please.) It also tells us that we are ALL sinners which means every single one of us deserves death regardless of our sin. It might be that little white lie, the hatred in our hearts toward another person, or murder and theft. They are all the same to God.

 

Instead of annihilating and entire planet full of sinners, God had a better idea. It still involved death and pain, but the death and pain weren't ours. God's Son, Jesus, took all of our sins (past, present, and future) in his body and took our punishment. It hurt. It was humiliating, but it worked. It broke the power of sin in our lives. The Bible tells us that anyone who sins is a SLAVE to sin. Jesus' death gave us the opportunity to be slaves no more. We have the power to walk away from our sin and be forgiven of it.

 



Source: Public Domain

 



Some people don't realize, though, that sin causes wounds to our very soul.

 

Some people don't realize, though, that sin causes wounds to our very soul. It could be sins we've committed or sins others have committed against us. Either way, sin causes wounds that need to be healed. Many times, we try to heal those wounds on our own, but we don't quite know how to do it. We've lost all sense of peace and we may try drugs, alcohol, promiscuous lifestyles and all sorts of other "remedies" to fix those wounds.

 

But listen to what we have available to us:

Isaiah 53:5 - But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed!      

 

1 Peter 2:24 - He personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds!

James 5:16 - So always tell each other the wrong things you have done. Then pray for each other. Do this so that God can heal you. Anyone who lives the way God wants can pray, and great things will happen.  

Let's break this down. Jesus was wounded, crushed, beaten, and whipped. Why? It wasn't ONLY for our forgiveness. Don't miss this part! He did it all so we could be forgiven, experience peace, and so OUR wounds could be healed.

Source: Public Domain

Soul wounds are like doors that fly open for Satan

 to enter your life and rip you apart.

 

I've had my fair share of soul wounds. They are like doors that fly open for Satan to enter your life and rip you apart. I've been deserted by friends which opened the door for Satan to come in and make me feel like I am not worthy of friendship. I've been publicly, falsely accused of something which gave the devil  an opportunity to  make me doubt myself, my relationships with Christians, and my ability to trust those in older generations.  I've been misled and lied to by young men in my life, which left my self-esteem in ruins. Satan, of course, used this opportunity to make me want to take back the control of my life and relationships and never put myself in a position of vulnerability with a man ever again. The list goes on and on, but the Truth of God's word is a powerful tool for the breaking down of these strongholds and Jesus' blood is the ONLY remedy for healing these soul wounds.
 

Forgiven. Peaceful. Healed. That is God's design and gift for you. This is who we are in Christ Jesus when we embrace the truth of what happened on the cross, confess our sin, turn away from it, and follow God's design for healing. God knew we would need more than just forgiveness and he provided what was needed. God is good!

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How Much is a Soul Worth These Days?

Ten days ago, I meditated on "Jehovah-M'Kaddesh," which is one of the names of God. It means "the God who sanctifies." I posted a song to go with that blog post called "What Do I Know of Holy" by Addison Road. I love the bridge of that song that says:

What do I know of holy?

What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?

And the God who gave life it's name?

What do I know of holy?

Of the One who the angels praise?

All creation knows Your name.

On earth and heaven above

What do I know of this love?

That part wrecks me every time I hear it: "What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?"

We look at the cross through the eyes of followers who couldn't believe what they were seeing, through the eyes of a broken-hearted mother who was watching her son suffer a cruel and humiliating death, or through the eyes of people who have heard so much about the death of Jesus their whole lives that they forget its power. Regardless of how we look at the cross and what Jesus did, I think most of us miss a valuable component of the whole situation.

How did God see the cross? Did he hurt? Was he angry? Did he want to slap the stupid smirk right off the devil's face? How does a holy God look upon the cruelty of the cross?

(Key word: holy. Today's meditation was on the fact that God is holy.)

How does a holy God look at my shame? How does a holy God look at the sin that caused my shame? How does a holy God deal with my sin, shame, and the punishment that I deserve?

Let's see what scripture says about the holiness of God:

Isaiah 40:25-31 (NLT)

25 "To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?" asks the Holy One. 26 Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out one after another, calling each by its name. And he counts them to see that none are lost or have strayed away. 27 O Israel, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles? How can you say God refuses to hear your case? 28 Have you never heard or understood? Don't you know that the LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth? He never grows faint or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. 29 He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. 30 Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. 31 But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.  

For a God who has no equal, created all that exists, knows the name of every star and ensures that no star gets lost, never gets tired, and has understanding so deep that it can't be measured, it's pretty safe to say that He looks at everything differently than we do. His perspective is beyond our ability to comprehend on our own.

So for a holy God that can be described as such, how does He deal with my sin, shame, and the punishment that I deserve? A cross. While I don't believe for a second that the cross was easy to endure or to watch, I believe that God, in His perfect and holy perspective, looked past the pain, humiliation and betrayal and saw all of the souls that would be saved from eternal punishment through this one final Divine sacrifice.

Your soul has great value to God. My soul has great value to God. Though what God went through was hard, He thought it would be harder to spend eternity without us. He did what was necessary to rescue our souls even though it cost Him something. That is holy.