It may look natural that when we wrong or displease God we want to distance ourselves from him and move away from his presence. When we offend him by breaking his commandments, as did Adam and Eve, we run and take cover. Covering up our shame by keeping aloof, is not the ideal step to take but that seems to be our first recourse. In the first instance, we cannot hide from God because his nature is that he is present everywhere.
If we know God truly, we should not run and hide because of our wrongdoing. He knows our frailties, our inadequacies and our inclination to satisfy the desires of the flesh. To this end, we are continually admonished to be on the look-out for the one who is roaming like a lion seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) The Bible is fraught with warnings of pitfalls and snares put in our way by the evil one. Sometimes it does not take a trained eye to see the traps; it’s just that we have been blinded by our lust.
God says we must choose life and not death if we want to live. “See, I put before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.” “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:15, 19) He knows our inclination towards the demands of the flesh, our insatiable appetite for ‘forbidden things’, and wish that we would not deliver ourselves to sin. In short, God knows our every weakness and would like to spare us from the consequences of sin.
Repeatedly God reminds us of who we are so that we may not stray into the fowler’s snare. Satan and his cohorts are on the rampage twenty-four hours a day, five days a week, and twelve months a year in search of victims whom he would steal from, kill or destroy. (John 10:10) In Christ, we have the full protection we need. His blood is enough to cover us from all danger and all harm.
There is no sin that any man or woman on earth can commit, has committed or will commit that has not already been forgiven by God through the shed-blood of his son Jesus Christ. “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbour his anger forever; He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:8-12) Our slates have been wiped clean. There is now no condemnation for our past, present and future sins. Jesus, the Saviour of humanity, has paid for them all. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ and Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2)
We should receive what has already been made available for us from eternity. Jesus did not die on the cross of Calvary to make us guilty but that we would acknowledge his finished work for humanity as a whole. Enjoy its coverage. We should never let guilt and sin-consciousness deprive us of what is our heritage, because “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:23)
The devil is working hard to make you think, feel and see yourself as unworthy because of your past deeds and your current disposition to sin. However in Christ, “we are a new creation, the old is gone, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) God sums it up neatly in these words: “My grace is sufficient for you.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
We live in the era of grace where God has granted us unmerited favour. Nothing we can do will qualify us for eternal life in God’s eyes. Needless to say, that our performance counts for little. Jesus has done it all for us; we need only to receive his finished work. So when we pray to the Father, “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.” (Hebrews 4:16) It is not about how we feel or what we have accomplished but instead what the Lord Jesus has done for our benefit.
In the parable of the lost son narrated by our Lord Jesus, when the lost son decided to come home after squandering his wealth, the father welcomed him back with open arms without ever once alluding to his mistake. It is important to know that in spite of our faults God will accept us when we return, when we make a comeback. In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul confirms this when he writes: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor death, no anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
That settles it. NOTHING can separate us from the love of God. When we sin, we run to him, confess our sins, accept his forgiveness and move on. RUN TO HIM NOW!
