Amazing Love

I would like to speak with you today about a subject that a lot of people struggle with, yet not too many people want to talk about. And that is “condemnation”.

When we think about condemnation, we think about those times when someone had pointed his or her finger at us, accusing us of doing wrong, or the guilt and shame we feel when we find ourselves in a place struggling with sin, or a habit that we are trying to break free of.

The Bible says in Romans 8:1 (Living Bible translation) There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. For the power of the life-giving Spirit, and this power is mine through Christ Jesus, has freed me from the control of the principles of sin and death.

In the original Greek, the definition of the word condemnation means, “a verdict, or a sentence pronounced with a suggestion of the punishment following".

Because of Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden, we were born with a sinful nature, and that nature to sin, has separated us from God. We have all sinned and have made mistakes in our life.

And because of Adam's sin, the condemnation, or the verdict or sentence of death came upon all men. The Ten Commandments were given, to make the transgression of sin more serious... yet sin increased. However, where sin abounded, Grace did much more abound, and God’s grace is far greater than condemnation!

John 3:16 says, “For God loved all the world, so much, that He gave His only Son, so that anyone who would believe in him, would not perish but have everlasting life”.

The gift that God has given to us is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. God proves His own love to us, by Christ dying for us while we were still sinners.

Isaiah 53: 3-6 (Living Bible translation) We despised him and rejected him, a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised and we did not care. Yet it was our grief he bore, our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, for his own sins.

But he was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was chastised that we might have peace; he was lashed---and we were healed. We are the ones who strayed away like sheep. We are the ones who left God's paths to follow our own. Yet God laid on him the guilt and sins of every one of us.

So when we come to the foot of the cross, and begin to look upon Gods only Son; We can't help but wonder how could Jesus love us so much that He would choose to suffer, bleed, and die in our place. When we look upon Jesus, and learn of His sufferings, then we begin to understand just how great the cost of our sin is, and the price Jesus was willing to pay.

It was His Amazing Love for me, that held Him there upon the cross. He was forsaken that I would be forgiven; He was rejected so that I would be accepted, He was condemned to die so I could be given life.

He gave His life for mine, that I may be free from the sentence of death. The cost was even more than God could bear to look at when He saw His one and only Son hanging upon the cross. The spotless Lamb of God sacrificed to take away the sins of the world. It was His love for you and I that led Him to Calvary’s cross, but it was our sin’s that nailed Him to it.

Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sin.

Remember in John's Gospel the 8th chapter when the religious leaders brought to Jesus a woman who was caught in the act of adultery?

At that time, the Law commanded the woman to be stoned to death. Nevertheless, Jesus' answer was, "he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. One by one they all began to walk away, and Jesus asked the woman, where are thine accusers, hath no man condemned thee?

She answered no man, Lord, and Jesus said unto her, "Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more".

We have all sinned against Gods commandments. We are all guilty of the sins that we have committed without any plea; we are just like the woman in this story. However, God does not condemn us to a sentence of death; He came seeking us out to forgive us of our sins, and to save us from the penalty of condemnation, by giving us life.

Psalms 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Remember it is Satan who is the accuser of the brethren; He delights in our failures and our weakness’. He will attack you in the weakest area bringing accusations to your mind. Saying things like, “You will never overcome this, your defeated, you're weak.

He will tell you things like, “You might as well give in to this temptation because you will always be this way”, and if He can lay your spirit low, causing you to believe the shame and guilt you feel, bringing condemnation to you because of your failures, you will never be able to rise again. He loves nothing more than for you to retreat in defeat, cower in shame, and draw back into sin.

One of Satan’s tricks is to tell you, “Everybody’s doing it, you might as well too”. However, the Bible tells us, (Romans 12:2) not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed “changed”, by the renewing of your minds in Christ Jesus. Remember the devil is a liar, a cheat, and a deceiver. He knows that you belong to Christ, and the truth and power of Gods Word will bring deliverance and set you free.

James 1:14 says, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

In the original Greek language, that word drawn away means to entice, or to allure. Just like in fishing, the hook is baited, and then the fish is enticed or lured to take the bait. Therefore, the Bible tells us that our own lust lures us away from the safety of self-restraint, and there are all kinds of lures today that come to tempt us and to draw us away from Gods will for our life.

Many have been snared by the lure of Alcohol and Drugs, Adultery and Fornication, Sexual Immorality, Pornography, these are just a few of those lures that are out there to entice us, and then to entrap us into bondage.

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. However, God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it".

So no one is excluded from being tempted; we all have been tempted in some way or the other. Satan tempted Jesus at a time when he was weak and hungry from fasting. He came to Him saying, (Matthew 4:3) “If you really are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread”. We see Satan trying once again to snare Jesus just as he did with Adam and Eve with something desired.

However, this time Jesus’ answered him and said, “It is written”. Jesus reminded the devil that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Jesus used God's Word to defeat Satan's temptations, so we need to remember what the Word of God says in our own times of temptations.

The Bible tells us, (James 1:12 Modern Language) “blessed is the man who doesn’t give in and do wrong when he is tempted, for when he has endured the test, (that word endured means to suffer patiently without yielding), he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him”.

There are many spirits in the world today, pressuring Gods people to conform to the ways of the world, but as Christians, we do not have to give in to compromise, or conform to what others are doing. We have desires of the flesh, but we also have desires inspired by the Holy Spirit. We have a mind of flesh, but we also have the mind of Christ. Therefore, we need to learn how to choose those desires that have been planted in us by the Holy Spirit.

1John 1:9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Let us learn how to live according to our new life in the Holy Spirit. This way we will not yield unto the old sinful nature. The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite of what the Holy Spirit wants. If we follow the desires of our old sinful nature, our lives will produce sinful results, on the other hand, when we yield our lives by faith unto the power, and influence of the Holy Spirit, our lives will produce the fruits of God's Spirit.

So lift up your heads and shout joyfully to the One who loves you with an everlasting love. He comes bringing Good News to the sick and afflicted. His arms are reaching out to comfort the broken hearted. And by His Power He has come to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to set the captive free. He came seeking you out, because of His Amazing Love for you.

So we can now say in Christ Jesus, I am a new creation. I belong to Christ, I am alive in Christ, and His Spirit is living within me, therefore there is now NO Condemnation, I am free from the guilt of the past, I am free from the shame, I am free from the reproach, and I am free from the sentence that sin had placed upon my life.

Praise God, I am Free!

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