Happy Easter, Beavers!! Jesus’ resurrection is something only God could do. And because of His death and resurrection, we can know God personally! Here’s what His death on Good Friday can do for you:
What Hath God Wrought!
23 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob,
Neither is there any divination against Israel:
According to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel,
What hath God wrought!--Numbers 23:23
Samuel F. B. Morse’s first telegraph message on May 24, 1844 used a phrase from Numbers 23:23 (KJV):
“What Hath God Wrought?” The electronic transmission from Washington,
D. C. to Baltimore, MD was the world’s baptism into instantaneous
long-range communication. However, breakthroughs such as the 19th
century telegraph, while remarkable at the time, have proven to be
mightily overshadowed by discoveries and inventions of the past
half-century. Since I entered high school in the 1960s, there have been
startling advances in scientific knowledge on a great number of fronts.
If we were to graphically illustrate these advances, the line may
resemble the human population growth curve: slow growth followed by an
explosive rise. We live in an unparalleled era of proliferating
knowledge. The fallout has produced some strange ironies.
What God Has Done with Our Sin" ("Pulpit Helps," 5/87 page 16.)
1. Forgiven and covered them (Psalm 32:1)--
How happy he is whose wrong-doing is forgiven, and whose sin is covered!
or a different translation:
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
“Sin”
= To miss the mark. While transgression looks at the violation of a
known law, sin looks at a coming short of that aim which God intended
for us to reach.
Words for forgiveness:
(1) “Forgiven”
= To bear, carry off, or take away a burden. Our sin is a burden which
God Himself bears or takes away. You are all familiar with the term
“scapegoat.” A scapegoat takes the blame and everyone else goes free.
The term comes from the Hebrew sacrificial system. The high priest would
select a goat, lay his hands on its head and confess the sins of the
people, thereby, in ceremonial fashion, putting their sins on the goat.
The animal was then sent into the wilderness [the AZ desert?] as a
picture of how God carried their sins away from Himself.
The
sacrificial system pointed ahead to Jesus Christ. He was the perfect
and final scapegoat for sins. He bore our sins away once for all, so
that when we put our trust in what Jesus did on the cross, our sins are
gone.
(2) “Covered”
= Out of sight. God puts our sins out of His sight, which means He will
never bring up our sins as a matter of judgment between Him and us. If
we’re in Christ, our sins are covered by His blood!
2. Not imputed unto us (Ps. 32:2)--
PSALM 32:2
·Happy [Blessed] is the person whom the Lord ·does not consider guilty [imputes no guilt to] and in ·whom [whose spirit]there is nothing ·false [deceptive].
(3) “Not counted” (“impute,”
NASB) = Not charged to our account. This is the verb used of God’s
dealings with Abraham: “Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned
(credited) it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). As Paul argues, this is the righteousness which comes from faith alone, not from works (Rom. 4:5‑8).
It’s
as if I had run up a million dollar charge account bill at a department
store and I didn’t have $10 to my name. There is no way I can pay the
debt. But the store informs me that the charge number on my card
actually charged the debt to another man’s account, and that he was a
multi‑millionaire and was willing to pay it on my behalf. That’s what
God has done for us in Christ. We owed an unpayable debt for our sin.
But Christ paid it on the cross. When we trust in what He did, God
credits our account paid in full and even adds the righteousness of
Christ to our account!
3. Removed them (Ps. 103:12)--
Psalm 103:12 New International Version (NIV)
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
4. Whitened them (Isaiah 1:18)*--
-- scarlet and crimson were both glaring and colorfast (RSB)
“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
Come, let’s consider your options,” says the Lord. “Though your sins have stained you like the color red, you can become white like snow; though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet, you can become white like wool.
5. Blotted them (our sins) out (Is. 43:25)-
Isaiah 43:25 New International Version (NIV)
25 “I, even I, am he who blots out
your transgressions, for my own sake,
and remembers your sins no more.
See also Isaiah 44:22 King James Version (KJV)
22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
I have blotted out
as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins,.... Sins
and transgressions are compared to clouds, for the number of them, they
being many as the fleeting clouds of the air; and for the nature and
quality of them: as clouds are vapours rising out of the earth and sea,
so these arise out of the earthly and corrupt heart of man, which is as a
troubled sea; and, like the clouds, they reach up to the heavens, and
the cry of them calls aloud for vengeance from thence; they cause
darkness, even all that darkness, both in unregeneracy, and after
conversion; they intercept the light of God's countenance, and interpose
between God and the souls of men, and cause him to hide his face from
them; they come between them and the sun of righteousness, and cover him
out of their sight; and by means of them the light and comfort of the
Holy Spirit are withdrawn; and they hinder the free passage of prayer to
God, at least as to the apprehension of God's people; see Isaiah 59:2,
and they portend a storm, and threaten with a tempest of divine wrath
and vengeance; but God graciously forgives them; which is meant by "blotting" them out. Clouds are blotted out
either by the wind dissipating and scattering them; or by the sun
breaking through them, conquering and dispersing them, which perhaps is
alluded to here; and designs not the satisfaction of Christ for sin; by
which he has finished and made an end of it; but rather God's act of
pardon upon it, and the application of it to his people; or the
discoveries of it by Christ himself, the sun of righteousness, arising
upon them with healing in his wings, that is, with pardon to their
souls; saying to them, thy sins, though many, are forgiven thee; and
they are so blotted out and removed as to be seen no more,
and as if they had never been, as a cloud is; not only no more seen by
the avenging eye of divine justice, but so removed from them as not to
be seen by them, as to have no more conscience of them, or feel the load
and burden of them; and though other clouds or sins may arise, yet
these also are blotted out in the same way, and shall never appear against the saints to their condemnation.[Mal. 4:2] And as, when clouds are blotted out,
there is a clear sky, a serene heaven, the sun shines in its
brightness, and everything is pleasant and delightful; so when sin is
pardoned, or it appears to be so, then God is beheld as the God of all
grace, as all grace and love; the sinner can go with a holy boldness to
him, through the blood of Christ, as being pardoned, and has fellowship
with him; the evidences of interest in Christ become clear, and the
comforts of the Holy Ghost are enjoyed. And let it be observed, that as
no man can reach the clouds, and blot any of them out; so none can forgive sins but God, this is his sole prerogative, Isaiah 43:25.
Here is mention made of a cloud, and a thick cloud; no clouds are so
thick but God can blot them out, and these are no sins so great but he
can forgive them; clouds, and thick clouds, are blotted out, lesser and
greater sins are forgiven by him. Some read the words thus, "I have blotted out",
wiped or washed away, "as with a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and
as with a cloud thy sins" (n); and give the sense thus, as clouds
pouring down with rain wash the streets from the filth of them, so the
Lord, as with a deluge of pardoning grace and mercy, washes away the
sins of his people; grace superabounds abounding sin, and carries it all
before it, and removes it clear away; now this blessing of grace is
mentioned, to attach the people of God to his service,
6. God has PARDONED our sin (Is. 55:7)--
Isaiah 55:7
let
the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let
him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our
God, for he will abundantly pardon.
7. God has cast them (our sins) into the sea (Mc. 7:19)--
Micah 7:19--He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
The Sea
Although
space exploration has received much publicity, there is another world,
equally intriguing, the exploration of which has not received so much
attention. Although much closer to us, the world of the sea still
contains many mysteries. One remarkable conquest took place early
Saturday morning, January 23, 1960. History was made that day as a
two-man crew descended to the deepest known point on the Earth’s
surface. The Challenger Deep, 35,800 feet below the surface, had been
conquered. Were the highest mountain to be dropped into this trench it
would still be covered by over one mile of water. -T.P.F.
Our Daily Bread, February 13
8. God has remitted them--our sins (Matthew 26:28)--For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
It's still the cross that forgives or pardons sin--(remits sin). See the song by the same name.
Who
being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,
and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by
himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
11. God has cast them (our sins) -- "all my sins" behind His back (Isaiah 38:17)--
For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
12. God has cleansed our sin (1 John 1:9)--If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
In conclusion: Imagine, you
have never been so tense in your life. You have been held in custody
without bail on a murder charge. The courtroom battle has dragged on for
weeks, draining your vitality and weighing upon you with increasing
anxiety. Finally, the big moment has arrived. With your hands manacled,
the bailiff leads you into the courtroom. The jury files in after
several days of deliberations. The courtroom falls silent as the judge
calls the court to order. He asks, “Mr. Foreman, do you have a verdict?”
Your heart is pounding and your mouth is dry as you watch him rise. The
rest of your life depends upon his words. “Your honor, the jury finds
the defendant not guilty.”
Not
guilty! A flood of relief sweeps over you and tears of joy well up in
your eyes. Not guilty! It’s as if a heavy weight has dropped from your
shoulders! The bailiff unlocks your handcuffs and you hear the judge
declare, “You are free to go.” Freedom from condemnation! Life suddenly
takes on new meaning. You are free from confinement, free from the
constant pressure of the charges against you, free to begin a new life,
because you have been released from those charges. Can you imagine how
that would feel?
I hope so! Every believer ought to know. David knew how it felt! Whether Psalm 32 stemmed
from David’s sin with Bathsheba or from some other incident, it shows
that he knew how it felt to have God as his condemning judge. But he
also knew the joy and relief of experiencing God’s forgiveness. Do you?
Sincerely,
Jack
