In 1 John 2:2 I read, “When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world’s.” (The Message)
My sin may seem like the end of the world, but it does not end God’s dream for me. Why?
Because Jesus already paid for all my sins.
They were paid for before I even knew God had a dream for my life. The Bible says about Jesus, “When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world’s” (1 John 2:2 The Message).
When Jesus died on the cross, he paid for all my sins—the ones in my past, present, and future. If I don’t believe that when Jesus died on the cross, he paid for all my sins, then I’m saying that Jesus’ sacrifice wasn’t enough. Through the cross, everything I’ve ever done wrong was wiped out, forgiven, cleansed, purified, eliminated, and forgotten. Understanding that lets me live in the freedom to pursue God’s dream for my life.
Because God’s goodness isn’t based on my performance.
God’s goodness to me is based not on whether I deserve it but on the fact that he is a good God.
“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus 3:5 NIV). That’s called grace! And it’s all I need to accept the good things God wants to do in my life.
Because God’s calling and gifts are given unconditionally.
God has a call for each person’s life. He has called me to a certain dream and purpose. He has given me gifts to fulfill that calling—and they are given unconditionally. If I had to work for them, they wouldn’t be called gifts.
God’s dream for my life is still in full force. It doesn’t matter if I’ve been working on it for years, or I’m getting started on it a little later in life.
It’s never too late to get God’s dream.
In summary, my sins may seem like the end of the world, but they do not end God’s dream for me, because Jesus already paid for all my sins. In fact, they were paid for before I even knew God had a dream for my life. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid for all my sins—the ones in my past, present, and future. If I don’t believe that when Jesus died on the cross and paid for all my sins, then I’m saying that Jesus’ sacrifice wasn’t enough. Through the cross, everything I’ve ever done wrong was wiped out, forgiven, cleansed, purified, eliminated, and forgotten. This lets me live in the freedom to pursue God’s dream for my life. God’s goodness isn’t based on my performance and it’s not based on whether I deserve it, but on the fact that he is a good God. He saved me, not because of righteous things I had done, but because of his mercy. That’s called grace! And it’s all I need to accept the good things God wants to do in my life. God’s calling and gifts are given unconditionally. God has a call for each person’s life. He has called me to a certain dream and purpose. He has given me gifts to fulfill. God’s dream for my life is still in full force. It doesn’t matter if I’ve been working on it for years, or I’m getting started on it a little later in life. It’s never too late.
Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for my sins. He is my defense attorney. He can stand before God as my mediator because of his death and the cultural context of the first-century Roman World. To walk today as Christ did, I must obey his teachings and follow his example of complete obedience to God and loving service to people.
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