Honey&Salt.online

Redemption & Grace

Hello, friends! I wanted to talk about something that is a little on the ‘heavier’ side of a message. I want to talk about the Lord’s response to our sins. This will be a lengthy post, so get comfy!

I want to begin by speaking on a story in scripture that we all know. I have read this chapter six times since January. It pops up in sermons at church, devotionals, podcasts, and my Bible reading plan for the year. It is Genesis 3. The fall of man. God specifically told Adam and Eve not to have one tree, while they had several others. He wasn’t withholding from them, but they disobeyed God by eating from the one tree they were ordered not to eat from, and sin first entered the world.

Genesis 3:8, “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees in the garden.”

Isn’t this exactly what we do after we sin? We run from God and try to hide ourselves by avoiding His presence. Notice how the verse says that God was walking in the garden; God sought them out, calling out to them. Sometimes, we are so wrapped up in the shame and guilt we feel from our sin that we aren’t aware that God is knocking at our doors, ready to flood us with love and mercy.

To be completely transparent with you, my beliefs in the Lord growing up did not look like the beliefs I have now. Growing up, I used to think that God didn’t want anything to do with me after I sinned. I believed He would cause evil things to happen to me because of my sinful actions, and would punish me by causing bad things to happen in my life. I thought I had to prove myself to Him and earn back His love and forgiveness.

This is the complete opposite of what Scripture tells us. Since the fall of man, God has shown mercy, and grace, and remained faithful. Verse 21: “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”

Adam and Eve, before their sin, didn’t realize they were naked. It was after they disobeyed the Lord that their eyes were opened and guilt and shame were experienced for the first time. And even after they went outside of the Lord’s command, God still provided for them what they needed.

This is His nature and always His approach to our failures. Even when we stray, God does not turn away from us. He continues to reach out to us. We have a tendency to withdraw from God and convince ourselves that our sin is too big and that our shame is too heavy.

We all know the verse, John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world may be saved through Him.”

Romans 8:1-2, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

God loved us so much, that He sent His own Son to offer salvation through Him. Salvation and the mercy of God are accessible to all who believe this truth. He loves His people so much, that He brought Heaven down so that we could one day be a part of it. Romans expresses the same truth, except that all those who have accepted Jesus in their life are free from the wages of sin and death; there is freedom for those who are walking with the Spirit, and no amount of shame, guilt, or sin can prevent us from experiencing that.

I wanted to mention Adam and Eve’s story and these verses from the New Testament to visualize a narrative of redemption that has spanned from the Garden of Eden all the way to the cross in Calvary. This is simply the heart of the Gospel: there is hope, redemption, and transformative power of God’s love, that is freely offered to all who would receive it. The story of redemption accounts for humanity’s fall and the consequences of sin, but it also celebrates the boundless grace of God, who, in His love, provides a way back to Him.

There are a few characters in the Bible I want to mention over the span of Adam and Eve to after Christ’s resurrection:
– King David committed adultery, but he sought God’s forgiveness and is remembered as Israel’s greatest king. [1 Samuel 16-17; 2 Samuel]
– Mary Magdalene was possessed by seven demons, but she was healed through the transformative power of Jesus and was the first to witness His resurrection. [Luke 8; Mark 15-16; Matthew 27-28; John 19-20]
– Paul actively persecuted Christians, but after an encounter with the Lord, He became one of the most influential apostles, spreading the gospel across the world. He wrote 13 out of the 27 books in the New Testament. [Acts 7-9; ]
– Peter betrayed Jesus by denying Him three times before His crucifixion, but He was forgiven and spread the message of Christ. [Luke 22; 1 Peter; 2 Peter]
– The Prodigal Son is a parable of a man who lives a life of sin, and when he returns home, his father welcomes him with open arms, symbolizing God’s readiness to forgive and embrace those who walked away, but turn back to Him. [Luke 15:11-32]
– Rahab was a prostitute, but her faith positioned her to recognize the power of the sovereignty of the Lord, and she became part of God’s chosen people. [Joshua 2;6]

I wanted to mention these characters because they are all like us. Our sins may not be identical to theirs, but each and every one of them was forgiven and transformed regardless of their past actions. Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (*This was written by Paul.*)

Something I love repeating over myself in times when I dwell on my past sins – or even if I give into the temptation of sin on my journey now – are the lyrics from a song I heard a couple of months ago. It’s called “Greater Still” by Brandon Lake. The lyrics are:
“My sin was deep, Your love was deeper.
My shame was wide, Your arms were wider.
My guilt was great, Your love was greater.
How deep,
How wide,
How far,
How high,
The love of my Savior,
The love of Christ.”

Friend, I pray that you never feel your sin is too big for the Lord to forgive or love you for. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not in your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that one may boast.”

Grace from the Father is not something we earn. It is something we are gifted with because He loves us regardless of our flawed life. Our relationship with God is not transactional but transformative. It is not about what we can do for God but what God has already done for us through Jesus Christ.

I also want to include in this post that Jesus’ death and resurrection is not an invitation to sin freely and expect to be forgiven. I was on social media the other day and saw a video of someone saying something along the lines of, “What’s the point of Jesus’ death if we don’t sin? We’ll be forgiven anyway so we should just do what we want.”

My initial thoughts were, “We aren’t even deserving of the forgiveness of God in the first place.” This is something He does because He loves His children. We are not entitled to experience the grace of God, but He gifts us with the freedom from shame and guilt.

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ serve as a definitive statement of God’s love for humanity, but it does not mean that the purpose of Jesus’ sacrifice is to encourage sin under the assumption that you will always be forgiven. Romans 6, written by Paul, tackles this misunderstanding directly. Verses 1-2, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

This passage goes into detail about those who are made new. If you are a true believer, you have laid your life down at the feet of the Father and willingly chose to surrender everything to Him and to live a life glorifying the Lord. This transformation involves turning away from sin and embracing a life that reflects the values and teachings of Jesus.

The grace of God is not a license to complacency in sin but a call to transformation – a move from death to life; from sin to righteousness. Jesus’ death and resurrection call believers to a higher standard that reflects the very nature of God. It allows us to live in alignment with His will.

For us who fall short, repentance is the only true way to forgiveness. There is nothing more we can bring to the Father’s feet other than our hearts. This is the simplicity and profundity of the gospel. God does not ask us to come to Him perfected or flawless. In Matthew 11:28, He tells us to come as we are, broken and in need of His healing. It is in our weakness that God’s strength is made perfect. It is in our acknowledgment of our need for Him that we find true freedom and forgiveness.

Romans 8:38-39 tells us nothing can separate us from the love of God. I pray that you know He is knocking at your door waiting to flood you with love and grace regardless of your sin. Believing that your sin is too big for God to forgive is saying that what Jesus did on the cross isn’t enough. If God can forgive Paul, He can forgive you. If God can forgive me, He can forgive you.

Leaving the world to walk with Christ has been my greatest decision ever. If you ever have a conversation with me, Jesus will most likely be mentioned because I want everyone to know Him. Not because I want to force my faith on others, but because I want everyone around me to experience His comfort and love like I have. I want everyone to produce the fruits of His Spirit. There is nothing the world can offer me that triumphs over what Jesus can, including His forgiveness.

Thanks for reading, friend! I am praying for you!