It’s Gone
Have you ever wished you could undo something that you did to hurt someone you really loved?
Men’s imaginations have allowed them to wish there was such a thing as time travel so they could go back in time and fix things that went wrong. This type of imagining reveals how desperately mankind wishes it could go back and fix mistakes and wrongdoings.
Why is this so real for people? They know the damage it does to a relationship to wrong someone you love. As human beings, we know the power of memory, both good and bad.
What might it be like if the most important person to you in the world had no memory of anything you ever did wrong to them? What if the person you care about most only had good memories of you? What if they only saw you as right with them, as one who is as they should be to them?
Would that bolster your confidence and security in your relationship with them?
There is not one person who has ever lived, except Jesus, who was born without a sinful nature and never sinned.
As Romans 1 in the Bible reports,
Romans 3:10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;
This describes mankind without Christ and anyone who thinks they can be right with God in the flesh by keeping the law.
Ezekiel 33:13 When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die.
It is common to think that making promises to do better might repair a relationship, when, in truth, what we need most in situations where we have blown it is mercy from the one we have wronged. It is even better if they are able to forget that we did anything wrong to start with. This is the good news of the New Covenant we have now in Christ! Look at what God promises!
Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
How is it possible that He can promise this with such authority and clarity?
Hebrews 9:26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
Once we come to Christ, we are made righteous by grace through faith in Him. We are hidden with God in Christ. God has chosen not merely to forgive our sins but to totally forget all our sins and lawless deeds. It’s gone! Our sins went with Jesus into the grave, and they did not come out with Him when He rose from the dead. He left them in the grave! I get to choose to identify with God based on Christ’s accomplishments or based on my efforts in my flesh. One He will accept, the other is iniquity to Him. I believe my sin is gone! It’s gone because of Him!
