New Life in ChristSpeaker: Dr. Paul Dhinakaran Gist: When Jesus comes into us, all the unwanted things caused by sin fall before us. The blood of Jesus Christ helps you and me to overcome the curse and the death caused by our sins. "For the wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23)
Sinners experience the agonies of the valley of the shadow of death here on this earth itself. It was to extract that root of sin that Christ humbled Himself to death.
"He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:8)
"He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
He endured all the agonies patiently on the cross so as to know the pain and distress which His children have caused because of their sins. The Roman soldiers nailed His hands and feet on the cross, placed a crown of thorns on his head, pierced His side with a spear. They scouraged Him and tore open His flesh. Yet, He did not utter a single word and bore the pains so patiently. He humbled Himself to death.
"He wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2:14,15)
"Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2: 9-11)
When Jesus comes into us and dwell in us, all unwanted things caused by sin will fall before us in complete defeat. There is so much authority in our Lord Jesus. It was with that authority that Jesus forgave the paralytic man in a moment and healed him. His heart must have been overwhelmed with joy that his sin which had caused his sickness and prevented his healing had been wiped out of his life forever.
Though my father is a renowned preacher, my life was soaked in sin before 1980. As a young man, I desired to taste the carnal pleasures of this world along with my friends. Without my parents knowledge, I got entangled in them during my days at the college, until I realised that I could not live withour them even for a single day. This brought in failure in my studies, physical weakness, disgrace abounding on all sides and all these made my life dark and bitter. Every morning while getting up from my bed, I would be seized in fear. A guilty conscience would scare me. I would cry, "Why this fear when I have all that I need?" My distress swelled up and I languished in loneliness. I could not share my burden with anyone. Just then the Lord Jesus met me through one of the Jesus Calls Training Institutes for Evangelists. He relieved me of the agony of sin and exalted me in life.
My dear friend, are you burdened with a load of sin? You have a way out. Jesus has carried your burdens on His own body. He took it to the cross and triumphed over it.
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)
Today, we are cleansed by the precious blood which Jesus shed on the cross. We then become new creatures. The blood of Jesus Christ helps you and me to overcome the curse and the death caused by our sins.
Prayer:
Loving Lord Jesus,
I had gone astray from Your presence several times. I lost Your grace and Your love. Please forgive me, Lord Jesus. I repent for my sins bitterly. I am coming back to You. Please accept me as Your loving child. Make me a brand new creature from this momen onward. Wash me with Your precious blood and make me whiter than the snow. Thank You for giving me a new life and accepting me as Your child. I surrender my everything into Your hands.
Amen. |