Summary: Are you constantly thinking of your sins? Amber shares that because of Jesus, we should be conscious of His sacrifice and not our sins.
I would say out of all the holidays, Easter is my favorite. The reason is because of why we celebrate it; the resurrection of our Savior. It is remembering that Jesus finished what He was sent here to accomplish.
Healing, deliverance, prosperity, and sins were all part of the atonement of our Lord Jesus. He paid for it all so we would have no lack. I want to focus particularly on His payment for our sins in this article.
If you would ask a typical Christian what Jesus did for us, they would say He died for our sins. That is the basic foundation of our Christian faith. But do we truly understand what that means? I sure didnt used to, and I think most believers dont comprehend the depth of what Jesus did for us all in regards to sin.
What I believed was that when I got saved all my past sins were forgiven. But after my rebirth all my sins were going to be held against me and I needed to ask for forgiveness. I would lie in bed at night, reflecting on my day and thinking of all the ways I had sinned. Then I would start confessing them and asking God to forgive me for each one, and at the end I would ask for forgiveness of the ones I didnt know I had committed. I was very sin conscious. Once again, I was falling back under the old covenant mindset.
The people of Israel were always conscious of their sins because they were under the conditional covenant of the law. Their sins were never completely wiped away, only temporarily covered by blood sacrifices. After a sacrifice they might think, Oh good, my sins are forgiven, but then they were reminded that it was not permanent forgiveness. Sin was always on their minds.
We are not to have that mindset anymore. Jesus paid for ALL our sins. Isaiah 53:6 says, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Note, it does not say the iniquity just up until we get born again. It is the iniquity for all people for all eternity.
If you are struggling with this, let me ask you this question: Is Jesus being sacrificed again each time we sin? No. He only did it once. That was why He cried out It is finished and gave up His spirit, because had completed the task that His Father had sent Him here to accomplish (John 19:30). He is now seated next to His Father because He has successfully purged all our sins (Hebrews 1:3). He bore all the wrath for our sins and permanently put it away, once and for all. Because of Him God is not imputing sin to us anymore, because it has already been imputed (or charged) to His Sons account (Romans 4:8).
Hebrews 9:12-14 states: Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place ONCE FOR ALL, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without sport to God, CLEANSE YOUR CONSCIENCE from dead works to serve the living God?
If we are believers, our conscience is to be cleansed, not bogged down with all our sins. When we are sin conscious, we arent Jesus conscious. We should be conscious of all our sins being forgiven through His blood. (And contrary to some peoples thinking, knowing you are forgiven DOES NOT make you want to go out and sin).
I know the transformation that has taken place in me by learning these truths. Now, instead of focusing on myself and my shortcomings, I think of Jesus and how He paid it all for me. Every sin that I deserve to be punished for He already suffered for on His innocent body. He didnt deserve such punishment and I dont deserve such grace. It seems too good to be true. But praise God it is true. That is the good news of the new covenant!
During this Easter season, I pray for everyone to reflect on the incredible sacrifice Jesus made for us all. Since He paid for our sins, He doesnt want us to be sin conscious anymore. Make it your point to be Jesus conscious instead, and thank Him for taking our place on the cross when we did nothing to deserve it.
(Questions or comments? Amber can be reached at amberdeemiller32@gmail.com)
