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©Copyright December 23, 2021 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche
During our approach to the Advent Season, we have been looking at one question: “Who are you looking for?”
Tonight, I want to suggest that many (and perhaps all of us) are looking for someone who can set us free from our past.
We might wish to be free from the scars of abuse or the hidden wounds of the bullies.
My specific focus tonight is the sin, the regret, the shame that you bear because of a choice you made or didn’t make.
Perhaps you were the one who was hurt.
Maybe you knew what was right to do, but you did the wrong thing anyway.
No matter how many people tell you to just forget it, you can’t.
Our regrets eat at us until they destroy us from the inside out.
A well know psychiatrist by the name of Dr. Karl Menninger one said if he "could convince the patients in psychiatric hospitals that their sins were forgiven 75 percent of them could walk out the next day."
This is what guilt, rebellion, and hidden sins do to us.
The good news of Christ is that the baby born in Bethlehem died to set us free from our past, our guilt, the alienation we have felt from God.
An Angel told Joseph,
“do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.
For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
(Matthew 1:20-21)
We tend to hear those words in the abstract.
In our mind, we are good people who have “made mistakes” in life.
Some of those mistakes haunt us.
What we look for is a formula or some activity that can help us deal with the guilt or pain of the past.
We see it as a minor “tweak” needed in our lives rather than a major transformation.
But this is not the way God sees it.
In Romans 3 we read these theologically rich words,
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight.
He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.
People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.
(Romans 3:23-25)
God sees our problem as much deeper than we do.
He says our problem is our sin; our unwillingness to seek Him and follow Him as the ruler of our life.
This sin has alienated us from God and keeps us from knowing the fullness of His blessing.
God, in a staggering act of grace and mercy took the form of man to rescue us.
He served as our substitute on the cross.
The Son of God willingly endured the wrath of God that we deserved, so that we, by trusting in Him, could be forgiven, and given new and eternal life.
The Christmas story was messy.
The child who had been promised for so long was born in humble circumstances, rejected by those He came to save, and executed by those who said they represented God in the world.
This is not a cute baby story; it is a profound demonstration of love!
If you don’t understand this part of the Christmas story, you don’t understand the real message of Christmas.
All you have are the Hallmark movies and a warm notion about a man who gives gifts to good boys and girls.
You may celebrate Christmas, but when it is over you will still be trying to swim in life with the weight of your sin making it more and more difficult to keep your head above water!
The message of Christmas is this: Jesus has come to set you free from your past!
But this begs the question: “How do we obtain this freedom?”
The Bible does not tell us to do a certain number of good deeds to offset the bad.
That is math that will never add up.
What the Bible tells us, is we must put our trust and faith in what Jesus has done for us and promises to do in us.
I like to say we have to be willing to bet our life and our eternity on Him.
This is more than “making a decision.”
Lots of people make decisions but never act on those decisions.
This decision is to commit yourself to trust and follow Him, believing He is the One who can save you from your past.
Think about it like a couple who falls in love.
They decide this is the person with whom they want to spend the rest of their life.
But that “decision” does not make it so.
They must act on that decision.
This isn’t about feeling good about Jesus.
It is about believing Him, not just intellectually, but also practically.
It is putting your money where your mouth is.
I remind you of my favorite riddle: three frogs are sitting on a log.
Two decide to jump in.
How many frogs are left on the log?
The answer is not one, it is three because deciding to jump and actually jumping are two different things!
When we put our faith and trust in Him, and begin to follow Him, we become a new creation; the old has passed away and the new has come.
The substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus is applied to your account.
In other words, your sin debt is paid for by Christ.
You no longer owe anything!
Your debt is cleared.
The charges are dropped.
Your sin is expunged from the record.
And this is where some people say, “I know God has forgiven me, but I can’t forgive myself.”
I tell this story a lot because it has had a great impact on me.
I’m not sure it actually happened to me the way I remember it, but the point is the same.
I was in a group counseling session once and said those same words, “I know I am forgiven, but I can’t forgive myself.”
And the Professor/Counselor said to me: “Who do you think you are?
If the Judge over all creation has declared you to be forgiven, who are you to suggest that you are not?”
When the Supreme Court makes a ruling, the lower courts must accept it as law.
If God says we are forgiven there is no one who can overrule that declaration.
This is why Paul can say, “There is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus!
Pause and think about this!
How would your life be different if you KNEW you were forgiven, and the record of your sin was completely wiped clean?
This reality adds a whole new dimension to the words, “Joy to the World, the Lord has come.”
The Apostle Paul, who wrote the words, “No condemnation,” was a man who arrested Christians and had many of them executed as heretics of the faith!
This man . . .
a mass murderer, or tyrant we might say today . . .
was declared not guilty because of what Jesus did.
I think when Paul dictated the words “no condemnation” he was shaking his head in wonder.
Maybe he even had tears coming down his face.
Perhaps he shouted the words with both disbelief and great joy!
It is incredible news!
Sin-filled people, like us, are unshackled from our past, our failures, our shameful memories, and are declared to be righteous children of God!
It is an astounding, and yes, humanly impossible truth.
Moving Forgiveness from Your Understanding to Your Living
There are times when memories of the guilt and shame of the past put us right back into bondage.
How do we live out the reality of what God declares?
Let me give you some suggestions.
First, we must ask ourselves this question: “Do you believe God, or don’t you?” Are you going to believe that inner voice in your head or the Word of the Lord?
Will you believe the condemning whispers of Satan or the loving assurance of God’s Spirit that says, “You are forgiven!”
Do you believe God, or are you going to call Him a liar?
In the majestic words of John 1 we read,
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. (John 1:12-13)
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