I Will Never be the Same Again

 

March 14, 1999 ~ Pickering Standard Church

 

I will never be the same again

I will never return, I've closed the door

I will walk the path

I will run the race

And I will never be the same again

 

Geoff Bullock

 

In order to properly understand the concept of forgiveness we need first to understand a some things about the history of mankind upon this earth. We need to realize that while all humans are born into a fallen, or sinful, state and are by nature found in rebellion against God this was not always the case. When God made man during the week of creation He created man good. God was able to say at the end of His creative work that everything was very good:

 

Genesis 1:1, 31 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth....God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning -- the sixth day.

 

Looking around at creation we see that while it is still very good it cannot be considered good in the way that God considered it good so long ago. Everywhere we look we see decay and corruption, violence and hatred, and much more that is contrary to the character of God or His desire for His creation. David, the man after God's own heart, was aware of this when he wrote the following words:

 

Psalm 51:1-5 - For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

 

Clearly we, as David saw, are all born as sinners. One of the major philosophical questions or our culture is merely an attempt to explain the reasons for man's inherent evil. So we are found to be born under a curse that can only be removed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, why? This is so because Adam and Eve, the parents of all humanity, rebelled against the direct command of God and so became fallen creatures, just as all children born to them and their children were also fallen creatures. We are born in a sinful state because the rebellion of our first parents brought allowed sin to enter the world and so pollute both them and all of their descendants.

 

Romans 5:12-14 - Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned -- for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

 

But reading further in this chapter we find that God did not forsake us even though humanity has forsaken Him. Paul goes on to say that even as sin entered the world through a single man, Adam, so life has now entered the world through a single man, Jesus.

 

Romans 5:15-21 - But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Romans 6:1-8 - What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin -- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

 

We are learning in Sunday School this month that Jesus had to become human in order to save us by being the perfect human sacrifice to die in our stead. But nowhere in the Bible does it say that Jesus had to be our sacrifice, nothing was forcing Him to die for us, all that brought Him to the cross was a perfect love for a fallen race that could do nothing of its own accord to save itself. He volunteered to die that we might be able to live. But He was human and so He personally experienced all that we go through. Take a minute to think about that. Jesus Christ, our perfect creator, became human and endured all that we endure yet never gave in to temptation. He was tempted as we are and yet was without sin:

 

Hebrews 4:15-16 - For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-- yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

 

Jesus knows everything that tempts us, He Himself was tempted with the same temptations. We do not need to be ashamed and think that Jesus will have nothing to do with us. If that were the case there would be no hope for any of us because even our least sin is one which God cannot bear to see and is sufficient to make God despise us. The thing to realize is that once we were beyond the reach of God, we were His enemies but now we are His children, we are not the same as once we were.