Grace.
Today, I am forgiven because of the blood of Christ Jesus.
It does not change the fact that I have sinned against the Holy and perfect God - or that my very nature is sin - but He is kind and loving. He is not indifferent – He is merciful.
Because punishment is deserved and must be given for my actions – Christ was beaten. Christ bled. Christ was tortured.
He felt pain – pain beyond what I have ever known – and He died nailed down to a piece of wood.
He died, because today, I am in need of forgiveness.
He died because everyday I am in need, and I am one thought and moment away from sin without his grace.
Lord, keep me by your love. Open my eyes and help me to see that while I sin and I am forgiven – this forgiveness is not merely you saying: “Okay, you are off the hook.”
But it is as if I am crucifying Christ again, that his suffering paid for my mistakes, and each time I knowingly and unknowingly sin against you, I am offending you - incurring wrath – and Christ took the punishment. I do not get off scot-free, I have caused my Savior pain by my actions, and he has loved me in spite of it. He has chosen to forgive me when I have caused the very beating that skinned his back, when I have had a hand in the cause of his death. He has chosen to take the punishment for me – that I may know him, and thus know how great and good the Father is. He is beyond my understanding, beyond my grasp, and my eyes see mere glimpses of this love and my sinful mind cannot comprehend it unless he allows me to.
The punishment I deserve for my actions, for my nature, has been dealt with.
Christ paid it in full.
He bled.
He suffocated.
He died.
And the father now forgives my sin in Christ, and sees us as His children.
My Savior now stands, alive.
Death he has defeated, and my pardoned he has earned.
I, vile and dirty, am loved by Christ.
I, in need and the cause of his scars, am loved by Christ.
A love like this no other has ever given.
A love like this is for you and I to know.
A love like this is in Christ Jesus, for He is risen.
