Psalm 105
SEPTEMBER 17, 2023: Sunday Reflections
Ps 103:10-14: We sinned against him, but he didn’t give us the punishment we deserved. His love for his followers is as high above us as heaven is above the earth. And he has taken our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west. The LORD is as kind to his followers as a father is to his children. He knows all about us. He knows we are made from dust.
This is the message of Christianity. This is the message that the world so desperately needs and that the church has so quickly forgotten. All who trust in Jesus initially put their trust in this truth. But so quickly we fall away from that message and replace it with some other knock off. We have been redeemed. We have been set free from who we used to be. Our sins, our past, our mistakes, they are no longer a part of us. They were separated as far as the east from the west as Jesus Christ stretched out his arms on a cross for us. God no longer sees us as we once were, he sees us a children. He treats us a sons, as heirs.
The Gospel of Jesus is not so much that we are saved from hell, though we are. Nor is the Gospel that justice will be brought to an unjust world, though it will be. The Gospel isn’t even primarily that a Kingdom is being created. Even though that is a large part of it. The Gospel is that Jesus has not given us the punishment that we deserve. The Gospel is that we are children of the God of the Universe. The Gospel is that God sees us, our past, our hearts, our thoughts, and desires us all the more. The Gospel is that we have changed, redeemed, made new, loved, given purpose, and are made to bring share and bring forth the Kingdom of God.
Whoever you are, Christian or not, this is the best news that could ever be proclaimed. May you respond to this news and experience the joy and peace that comes through knowing God as Father and being known by God, being made new, forgiven, and liberated from all the things that you used to be.
[SOURCE: Brandon Robertson: God Will Never Give Us What We Deserve]
This is the message of Christianity. This is the message that the world so desperately needs and that the church has so quickly forgotten. All who trust in Jesus initially put their trust in this truth. But so quickly we fall away from that message and replace it with some other knock off. We have been redeemed. We have been set free from who we used to be. Our sins, our past, our mistakes, they are no longer a part of us. They were separated as far as the east from the west as Jesus Christ stretched out his arms on a cross for us. God no longer sees us as we once were, he sees us a children. He treats us a sons, as heirs.
The Gospel of Jesus is not so much that we are saved from hell, though we are. Nor is the Gospel that justice will be brought to an unjust world, though it will be. The Gospel isn’t even primarily that a Kingdom is being created. Even though that is a large part of it. The Gospel is that Jesus has not given us the punishment that we deserve. The Gospel is that we are children of the God of the Universe. The Gospel is that God sees us, our past, our hearts, our thoughts, and desires us all the more. The Gospel is that we have changed, redeemed, made new, loved, given purpose, and are made to bring share and bring forth the Kingdom of God.
Whoever you are, Christian or not, this is the best news that could ever be proclaimed. May you respond to this news and experience the joy and peace that comes through knowing God as Father and being known by God, being made new, forgiven, and liberated from all the things that you used to be.
[SOURCE: Brandon Robertson: God Will Never Give Us What We Deserve]