Redemption
Shar Karsten
Today, sin isn’t taken very seriously. The older generation grew up hearing mostly about how sinful we were, how ashamed we should feel for our less than perfect lives. We knew we were sinners. But that message wasn’t balanced by the beauty of our redemption. So the next generation pushed the pendulum the other way. They preached grace and mercy. We are saved, we do not need to feel ashamed. We should live joyful lives, feeling no shame.
Like most things in life, there needs to be a balance. There needs to be at least one time in our lives when we are crushed by the burden of our sin and shame. One time when we look into our souls and see the vile condition of our hearts. It should disgust us. We should feel horror and grief at what we find there. Even if, no, especially if, we are feeling particularly good. For most of us live pretty good lives. As the world goes, we are doing quite well. But our best is just a drop in the ocean compared to the righteousness required for salvation without Jesus Christ. Think about that. Our best is a drop in the ocean, one grain of sand on the seashore, compared to the righteousness required for salvation.
This struck me one day when I started to reflect on my efforts. I saw myself busily attempting to jump to the moon. When I concentrated on my jumping, I was quite impressed. I was gaining strength, I was jumping higher. I was a pretty good jumper. But when I looked at the moon, I was crushed to realize I could become the world’s champion jumper and there was no way I was going to even come close to the moon. My best was nothing.
And then I dropped to my knees, humbled and grieved that my best was nothing. I had been wasting my time. The only way to make it ‘to the moon’ was to be lifted by the mighty hand of God, transported by His power, not my own. Relying totally on His power to save. And as I felt overwhelmed by my unworthiness, my wasted efforts, my self-centered life, tender words soothed me.
“My blood covered this.”
”But, God, “ I whispered, “this is so bad.”
”It’s covered.”
”Are you sure? What about…”
”It’s covered.”
”But, do you remember when…?”
”It’s covered. My blood is enough. It covered all your sins, each and every one. No shame, no condemnation.”
If I hadn’t experienced the pain of my sin, if I hadn’t carried a load of guilt for awhile, the joy of salvation would be missing. How many mornings don’t we wake up thinking of all we have to do? We get our feet moving, our energy is up, our coffee gives that extra boost we need for the day. Things get done. We have a pleasant feeling at the end of the day.
But all that changes when we are down with a nasty flu bug for a week. Just brushing our teeth takes more energy than we have. Dirty dishes pile up around us and it seems like a monumental task. We begin to worry we might never recover. But then the morning comes when we feel better. We jump out of bed again, ready to take on the day. But there is a new appreciation for our health. Everything is richer, the sun is brighter, even washing dishes sets us to humming.
That’s what repentance does. It makes us appreciate the precious gift of salvation. We can’t look at the true condition of our hearts, feel the sorrow it causes a righteous, holy God, and then realize it’s covered without responding in thunderous rejoicing. And God, our Father, and Jesus Christ, our Savior, deserve the thunderous rejoicing from sinners who realize how precious our redemption is.
O Lord, have mercy on me; for I have sinned against you. - Psalm 41:4