Day 21

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” — 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17-19

“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.” (1 John 4:16-17)

This is a remarkable verse. The extent to which the love of God has reached into our lives is that on Judgment Day we will not come into the presence of God cowering and fearful, dreading the encounter, but we’ll come humbly, boldly and confidently. Why? John says that the full extent of the love of God for us is expressed in the fact that “in this world we are like Him”. We will stand in the presence of the Father as pure and righteous as the Lord Jesus, and just as the Father would welcome the Son, so He will welcome us.

Why is this so? Have we earned it? Of course, not. But there was a day in history when the skies turned black and the Father turned His back on the pure, holy, righteous Son of God as He became sin for us. All of our fi lth, our failure and sin were heaped upon Him, and in exchange, all of His goodness and purity has poured out upon us, and we became forgiven sinners. 

Paul put it this way, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) What an exchange! The Living Bible paraphrases it as, “For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sin. Then in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us.” He took our sin and we take His righteousness. Paul tells us we have become new creation in Christ. The old has gone, the new has come!

We live in such a complex world where the devil is hard at work. Do not fall victim to the ways of this world and do not allow Satan to rob you of the enjoyment of a full cleansing. Those in Christ are washed clean and clothed in the Robe of Righteousness and that’s how we’ll stand before God on Judgment Day. 

Does that not thrill and humble you?

PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, I know that I am full of sin and unworthy of being clothed in a robe of righteousness, but I thank You, Lord, for providing a way for my sin to be forgiven, so that I might stand before You on Judgment Day fully cleansed by the blood of Jesus. This is a gift of grace from YOU, for which I live everyday in gratitude. Thank You, Lord.

TO REFLECT UPON: Have I given much thought to the Day of Judgment when I will stand before God? Do I live as though I have been cleansed of my sin, or do I carry around needless guilt?