LEARNING DAILY

Matthew 1:21, “She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

Max Lucado spoke at Community Bible Church. He is a well-known pastor and author who lives in San Antonio. I probably will add none of my own thoughts in this page of the blog because Pastor Lucado’s words were so good. Let me share what he said about remembering why Jesus came into this world as we celebrate His birth. The angel Gabriel told Joseph this, “She [Mary] will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Jesus came to save people from their sins; “What started in the cradle, was finished at the cross” (ML).

Pastor Lucado spoke of the Greek word “telestai” meaning “It is finished;” “It is paid.” The name Jesus means “God saves.” “It is said God placed His perfection on us through His Son. All people need to be saved because of sin that leads to shame. Pastor said there are two types of guilt – one that leads to repentance, and one that leads to shame. Guilt is when one says to himself, “I did that and need to repent.” Shame says, “I am that.” He used the acronym for shame as Self Hatred At My Expense. Shame will suck the life right out of one’s soul.

One word is used for this in the Bible – debt. When one disobeys God’s command, he becomes indebted to Him. That’s why Jesus taught in the Lord’s prayer to pray for God to forgive our debts. Apart from God one is drowning in their debts. Pastor Lucado said we go into debt when we disobey His commands; when He tells us to go north and we go south; when He tells us to forgive and we hold a grudge; when He makes the universe and we applaud science, and when He heals the body and we applaud medicine. We go into debt when we disrespect God’s children and criticize and/or speak against another.

Hebrews 12:14 says, “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” (NIV) God’s standard is perfection. All people have an insufficient debt account. The world says to do better, to do more, to do right, and you will be okay. The people on the street say God saves good people. The truth is found in Romans 3:20, “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands [by doing good]. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” (NLT) Pastor Lucado asked the question, “How good is good enough?” The answer he gave was, “People just hope they are good enough and have done enough to get into heaven.” Romans 4:5 tells us, “But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.” (NLT). No one can work out their debt!

God sent His son to save people from their sins, their debts. Romans 8:33, “Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one — for God himself has given us right standing with himself.” (NLT). God has assigned Himself to settle our debts. He did not pretend you and I do not sin; a just God could not do that. He did not pretend you and I do not exist; a loving God could not do that. How can He be just and punish sin, but be merciful and love the sinner which love requires? The answer lies in God putting Himself into the world through His Son Jesus!

Hebrews 10:14, “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (NIV). Through Jesus, God made those saved, holy. Through sanctification (walking the narrow way) He continues to make Believers perfect. Instead of Jesus saying “do,” He said “done”! Your salvation has nothing to do with anything you did; it has all to do with the finished work of Jesus Christ. His grace is greater than your sin.  God’s grace is enough!