Finished Work of Calvary

Good Morning,

I preached a sermon about the will of God and how we should not focus on the past or some utopian dream of "the perfect will of God." God is most concerned about our doing the will of God today, regardless of where we once were, what we have faced in the past, or even of what wrong has been done.

Is it not wonderful how our Lord used the woman at the well? (John 4) She previously had five husbands and was currently living with another man. Yet she trusted Christ sufficiently to go to town and tell everyone of the Saviour. She did not need to grovel in the mire of a failed, sinful past, but rather receive that "living water" that she might not thirst again. She gloried in the Man Who told her all things that she ever did. She was able to focus on doing the will of God right at the moment.

The trouble we face is our inability to understand God and His character.

1. God's love is far greater than anything we can imagine.

2. God's forgiveness is also erasure (a complete elimination of our wrong deeds). The term is justification.

Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

3. Christ's sacrifice is effectual — a complete, total payment for all our sins.

Our humanity wrestles with the idea of our sins being paid for, a principle which is clearly taught all through the Bible. Christ died for our sins; therefore, the payment for our sins has already been paid.

1 Corinthians 15:3 “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;”

2 Corinthians 5:14 “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:”

vs. 15 “And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”

When we do accept the idea of full payment for our sins, we have a difficult time accepting that God no longer considers those sins, that He holds no grudges, and that He does not limit us from honorable service because of our sins. The Bible teaches that God, unlike men, forgives and forgets.

Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

Hebrews 10:17 “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”

If I were to pay for some items in the store, and then as I walked out the store, an employee asked for me to pay for the items again, I would not consider doing such a thing. The debt had been paid! I need not pay again. Yet when we receive Christ and His payment for our sin, we insist on punishing ourselves and often hold bitterness and anger against ourselves or others, failing to grasp the fact that God has long since forgiven and forgotten our shameful deeds.

What Jesus did was pay for all my sins.

What God's substitutionary atonement achieved was that those sins ARE NO LONGER MINE. THEY WERE TRANSFERRED TO THE SAVIOR’S ACCOUNT.

SO WHY SHOULD I PUNISH MYSELF FOR SINS THAT ARE NOT MY OWN?

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

We read here that we were made righteous by our Lord. Hmmm. That sure sounds like we ought to live a life of joy and assurance rather than grief and sorrow.

Notice these truths from Isaiah 53:

Isaiah 53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

Christ was chastised for our peace... We ought to be enjoying peace purchased by our Lord, and certainly we should not live in anxiety.

vs. 6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

If the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all, why are we weighed down under the weight of our past sin?

vs. 11 “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied…"

If God was satisfied, literally recognizing what Christ did was sufficient and adequate to care for our sin debt, then perhaps we too ought to be satisfied?

Lastly, were we made righteous?

Romans 5:19 “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”

Did the finished work of Calvary make us righteous? If it did, then it is wrong to wallow in our sinful past. It is wrong to allow guilt to cripple us and weigh us down to the point that we are incapable of serving God or the world around us.

The little children's song fits adults too:

Gone, gone, gone, gone,

Yes! my sins are gone.

Now my soul is free and in my heart's a song

Buried in the deepest sea,

Yes, that's good enough for me...

Is Christ's death enough for you? It is good enough for God.

Pastor