“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” — Romans 8:1

In Bernardo Bertolucci’s Italian/Chinese epic, The Last Emperor, a young child is anointed as the last emperor of China. As a lavish youth in the Forbidden City, he is afforded every luxury with a thousand eunuch servants at his command. He lives his life however he pleasures himself, even telling his brother, “If I am naughty, someone else is punished. One of them!” As a demonstration, he breaks a jar and one of his servants is beaten. In Christian theology, this ancient pattern is reversed: the servants became “naughty” and the King was punished for their sins.

Writing to first-century Christians in Corinth, the apostle Paul says:

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT)

Every religion in the world is about man trying to get to God, but the essence of Christianity is that God came to man because we could never be good enough to get to Him—we are just too naughty left to ourselves.

Every religion in the world is about man trying to get to God, but the essence of Christianity is that God came to man because we could never be good enough to get to Him—we are just too naughty left to ourselves. And yet this is the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: He has not left us to ourselves… “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8)

No matter how naughty we have been, we have an advocate in Christ (1 John 2:1). This advocate not only pleads with the Father on our behalf, He willingly suffered and laid down His sinless life to atone for the sins we have committed. Then, in an awesome display of God’s approval of that sacrifice, Jesus rose from the grave, proving that all of the compensation for our righteousness has been fully paid on the merit of Christ’s blood alone. The resurrection means that God has accepted the payment from the Son, and we can now live freely in this redemption now afforded to us.

That’s why Paul told those early believers in Rome that there is now “no condemnation” for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1). “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (vv2-4)

Paul assured them that no degree of religious law abiding or moral devotion could ever meet the righteous requirements of God to make us holy: only Jesus could do this. Then he exhorts them to live differently. This free redemption shouldn’t be accepted cheaply; it shouldn’t make us flippant about sin, or presumptuous like that young emperor. It should make us intentional “debtors” to a new kind of living. The atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ should cause us to live in the power of a whole new reality—walking in accordance with and abiding in daily companionship with the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The eighth chapter of Romans begins with no condemnation and it ends with no separation. And in between those two eternal realities, there is no defeat. For, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11)

The same power that rose Jesus from the grave
The same power that commands the dead to wake
Lives in us, lives in us
The same power that moves mountains when He speaks
The same power that can calm a raging sea
Lives in us, lives in us
He lives in us, lives in us

—Jeremy Camp

PRAYER

Abba Father, thank you for giving us the Spirit of adoption, who bears witness in our hearts that we are indeed your children. Thank you for the freedom that comes from Christ’s atonement and resurrection. Thank you for the forgiveness and new life that you give. Holy Spirit, teach me how to live in spiritual freedom and to be a debtor to the things that pleasure you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Questions for personal reflection, small group discussion, or dinner table conversations:

1. If you were released from a three-year captivity as a hostage, what would you do during your first week of freedom?
2. What is the status of a person who trusts in Jesus Christ? (Romans 8:1) How is a person set free from the law of sin and death? (v2) What did God do that the Law was powerless to do? (vv3-5)
3. What is the difference between those who live according to their sinful nature and those who live according to the Spirit? (vv5-8) How can a person know if he or she is controlled by the sinful nature or by the Spirit? (v9)
4. What promise is given to people living in the Spirit? (v11) What is true of people who are led by God’s Spirit? (v14)
5. In what ways can you live as an intentional “debtor” to the new realities God has afforded to you through Christ’s atonement and resurrection?

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The post The Last Emperor: Dealing With Our Naughtiness appeared first on Jimmy Larche.

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I like to tell people that my wife and I don’t argue; we just have very intense fellowship sometimes!

When we were newlyweds, I learned that no matter how intensely we “fellowshipped” or how deeply I may have offended her, there was always a remedy that would fix things and bring us back together. It’s called frozen yogurt date. No matter how snippy Mr. Grumpy acted, he could always rely on this sweet delectable to remunerate the wrongs done and reconcile the relationship.

Yet on one occasion, after inviting my young bride on a frozen yogurt date to iron out an argument, I walked into the frozen yogurt shop only to realize that I had left my wallet at home. Oops. But what happened next spoke volumes about the virtue of my wife and it also serves as a vivid picture of the grace and mercy of our God. Opening up her purse, Cindy said, “Jimmy, you may have been wrong back there, but I got this one.” Then she pulled out her wallet and paid for the treat that would consequently sweeten up any bland spots in our marriage.

What my wife did in that frozen yogurt shop is what the Bible refers to as “atonement,” or “propitiation.” The word propitiation carries the basic idea of appeasement, or satisfaction, specifically towards God. Propitiation is a two-part act that involves appeasing the wrath of an offended person and being reconciled to them.

The Bible says in 1 John 2:1-2: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” What’s significant about this kind of sacrifice or atonement is that the one who has been offended or violated, is also the one making the sacrifice to bring restitution and reconciliation to the relationship.

Sin often harms another person, but, ultimately, all sin is against God. We see many references in the Bible of people admitting, “I have sinned against God” (Exodus 10:16; Joshua 7:20; Judges 10:10). Sin is the intentional or unintentional act of violating God’s will. Sin can also be viewed as any thought or action that endangers the ideal relationship between an individual and God, or as any diversion from the perceived ideal order for human living. To sin has been defined as “to miss the mark.”

There are two basic ways we sin: either by commission or omission. A sin of commission is a sin we take action to commit, whether in thought, word, or deed. Sins of omission are those in which we knew we should have done something good, but refused (James 4:17). All sin, regardless of its root, is offensive to a holy God.

We can never do enough good to appease God’s wrath toward the sin in our lives. All of us fall short (Romans 3:23). But this is where Jesus comes in. God knew that we were spiritually bankrupt and incapable to remedy our own sins, so He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our forgiveness and our atonement. He is the propitiation for our sins. He is also our defender—an “advocate” who is seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us (Ephesians 1:19-21, Romans 8:34, Hebrews 10:12).

A human defense lawyer argues for the innocence of his client. But our Advocate, Jesus Christ, admits our guilt—and then enters His plea on our behalf, as the one who has made an atoning sacrifice for our sinful guilt.

Oswald Chambers admonished us with these words: “Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive—He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross.”

An old hymn says it best:

He paid a debt He did not owe
I owed a debt I could not pay
I needed someone to wash my sins away
And now I sing a brand new song
Amazing Grace

May you boast in His righteousness alone as the all-sufficient propitiation for your sins, and may this amazing grace bring you great peace as you abide in Him today.

Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement.

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The post Frozen Yogurt and Amazing Grace | Devotion appeared first on Jimmy Larche.