Annie
Scriptures: Genesis 3 Genesis 22:1-19 Exodus 12:1-13 Matthew 27 Romans 5
Have you pondered upon why God clearly wants us to know with absolute assurance that His Goodness and Mercy pursue us all the days of our lives? Why is is this so necessary to our growth into a deeper relationship with Him?
When I started asking this question, I began to think about how we are surrounded by and immersed in so many blessings each day that we can, often, become complacent about. And, the mightiest blessing is that we have been saved, redeemed, from the curse of eternal separation from God by the precious Blood of Christ. Jesus was the One who was arrested, brutally tortured and killed so that this battle against His, and our, enemy could be won, and death defeated once and for all. The price had to be paid because God is perfectly and utterly Just in all of His ways, blood had to be shed to free us from the curse of sin and death. There was, and always is, no other way.
Throughout history, God has demonstrated that the shedding of blood is the only covering that has to be required for our sin. In the very beginning, when Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked and ashamed, God made them garments from the skin of a slain animal to cover themselves. It was God who provided the ram caught in the thorn bush for Abraham to sacrifice on Mount Moriah in place of his son, Isaac. Perhaps the most well known image of the need for shed blood to cover God’s people and save them, is what happened in Egypt. God instructed Moses to tell the children of Israel to take a spotless lamb as a sacrifice and daub its blood upon the door posts and lintels of their houses so that the Angel of death would pass over them. For God’s justice to be accomplished, He demonstrates His Lovingkindness and Mercy in always providing a blood covering for His children so that we might be washed clean from our sins.
However, it was never God’s desire that this would be necessary, sin entered our lives through the choice of Adam and Eve to listen to the lying voice of the devil instead of the loving voice of God. Sin and death are the inevitable result when we fall for the devil’s lies and God has shown us that there is only one way to escape this, a substitute sacrifice must be made. But first, we must heed the voice of God whispering in our ear, laying out the path before us that will lead to our salvation and eternal life with and in Him. Each path begins with a first step, and the first step to salvation is repentance, an acknowledgement that we are sinful creatures who need to turn from our ways, leave them behind, and cry out to God for His forgiveness. Until we make that first step, we can never escape the penalty that has to be paid for sin.
On Calvary, just as He had for Abraham so many generations earlier, God Himself provided the sacrifice, His own Spotless, Pure Lamb, with the crown of thorns upon His head. He allowed His Son to die a hideous death in our place, to win the battle against sin on our behalf, to shed His Blood that we might be washed white as snow. The One and Only Lamb of God won this victory that grants us the right to live under the blessing of everlasting Life, and to know His myriad of blessings each and every day we live on Earth. And we need to make the choice each day to acknowledge, praise and worship Him for this greatest of all sacrifice.
God’s Goodness and Mercy pursues us, as our constant companion, to whisper in our ears and remind us that this is the only way to dwell in the House of the Lord forever. We need the ever present prompting to recall what God has redeemed us from, not to live in the past, but to realise that He has covered our past with His Blood out of pure, selfless Goodness and Mercy. He has won the victory over sin and death for us; through His Blood we can live in that victory forever.
Prayer: Abba Father, may we always be tuned in to Your loving Voice, reminding us in Your Goodness and Mercy that we are now covered by the precious Blood of Christ. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me. The price has been paid, the battle has been won and the Victor’s blessings are now granted to us. Thank You, in Jesus precious Name, thank You God. Amen
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