Thursday, November 18, 2004

Paid In Full

What our Lord did was done with the intent, and this alone, that he might be with us and we with him.” — Meister Eckhart

In the movie, "Passion of the Christ", I watched the part where Jesus approached to the time of His last breath. All bloodied from series of strokes from a whiplash, nail-scarred hands, crown of thorns, pounding on the ground because of the heavy cross and the men who demanded Jesus to prophecy on which fist hit Him, Jesus looked up toward heaven and said,

"It is finished."

It was a very touching movie! The cinematography! The power it displayed! It actually brought us to the scene of Jesus' final hours. The movie quoted it in a similar way, "It is accomplished." Therefore, until the time of Jesus' torture, crucifixion and death, a complicated system of sacrifices the priest, for thousands of years, had atoned for sins.

Sin separates people from God, and only through the sacrifices of an animal, could people be forgiven and become clean before Him. But the problem lies within. People continued to sin. Once sin entered their lives again, sacrifices were required for the remission of their sins.

Jesus, however, became the Final and Ultimate sacrifice for sin. The word, "finished", is the same as "PAID IN FULL". Jesus came to accomplish, finish God's work of salvation to pay the full penalty of our sins. With His death, the complex sacrificial system ended because Jesus took all sin upon Himself for us. He did this in order for us to restore the "once lost relationship with God."

Is your soul stamped, "PAID IN FULL" with Jesus' blood?
JESUS died on the cross to pay the price for SIN.
"For He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
(2 Corinthians 5:21).
Those who believe in Jesus and place their trust in Him (Acts 16:31),
repent of sin (2 Corinthians 7:9-10),
confess Him before men (Romans 10:9-10),
and are baptized (immersed) into Christ (Acts 2:38),
received the forgiveness of their past sins.
Those who CONTINUE to follow Christ as a way of life will CONTINUE to be cleansed from SIN (1 John 1:7).

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