God demonstrated His own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us. God is not counting our sins against us because all of our sins were counted against Jesus at the cross. Perfect love tell us that God will remember our sins no more, there is no condemnation in Jesus, and we can have boldness before God! (see transcript of teaching below)
Watch it on Vimeo or listen on SoundCloud!
Transcript of Session 2: “God’s Great Demonstration of Love”
Introduction
This message is foundational. Everything regarding our faith as believers is built on the foundation of God’s great demonstration of love, the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Foundational doesn’t mean “surface.” It means deep. Nothing is deeper than the foundation – not miracles, not healings, not experiences with God, certainly not behavioral change. All of that is something you can see. You can’t see the foundation – because it’s on the inside. Everything else is built on it. And –
1 Corinthians 3:11 – For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Tonight’s message is dedicated to anyone who ever thought that God could never forgive them. Spoiler alert: He already has. The question is: can you receive His grace?
Will there be a video tape of my sins when I die?
Have you ever heard that on judgment day, you’ll stand before the throne of heaven, and God will play a video tape of your life and all of your sins will be made public for all of heaven and earth to see? I remember hearing that at a youth meeting growing up, and it stuck with me. I lived in dread of that day until I learned what the Bible actually says. Now I eagerly await that day!
Hebrews 8:12-13 – [In the New Covenant of grace, God says, – ] …I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” [ou mē: strongest double negative, meaning “NEVER, certainly not, not at all, by no means will I ever remember your sins.”] 13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete.
God will not remember our sins because He already “remembered” all of our sins 2000 years ago when JESUS bore our sins in His body on the cross. When God “remembers” sins, He obliterates sins. His wrath comes against that sin and removes that sin because that sin separated you from Him, and He didn’t want that! My brothers and sisters, you can be assured that there will be no video tape of your sins on judgment day!
Great Exchange
In fact, Jesus didn’t come to condemn you, but to save you.
John 3:16-17 – [Jesus said -] For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
John 5:19 – [Jesus also said – ] “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.”
So when you see Jesus going to the cross for us, you see the Father’s heart of love for us.
2 Corinthians 5:19-21 – God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, [that means God is not counting your sins against you. Why? Because all your sins were counted against Jesus at the cross. If God were to count our sins against us, it would be the crime of double jeopardy – punishing the same sin twice. And that would be unjust! If I were to believe that God is counting my sins against me, I would be devaluing the Son of God and His perfectly perfect, completely complete work on the cross!], and [God] has committed to us the word of reconciliation. [What is the word of reconciliation? It’s right there in the text: God is not counting your sins against you!] 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: [this is our plea to the unbeliever:] we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. [That doesn’t mean go fix yourself and then come to God. It simply means to believe the next verse – ] 21 For He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Jesus became sin at the cross apart from any sinful actions, deeds, or thoughts, and once you receive the free gift of His righteousness, You become righteous apart from anything good that you have done. You are righteous – not because you do righteous acts, but because HIS righteousness became your righteousness. He took your sin. You took His righteousness. That was the great exchange. This Great Exchange was prophesied in the Old Testament in Isaiah 53:
Isaiah 53:4-5, 12, AMPC – Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy]. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.… 12 He poured out His life unto death, and [He let Himself] be regarded as a criminal and be numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore [and took away] the sin of many and made intercession [at the cross] for the transgressors (the rebellious). [that was us!]
God’s Not Mad
In the context of this detailed description of Jesus’ work on our behalf, in the very next chapter of Isaiah God swore on oath to Himself that because of this great act of intercession, He will never be angry with us again.
Isaiah 54:8-9 – “With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness [checed, grace] I will have mercy on you,” Says the LORD, your Redeemer. 9 For this is like the waters of Noah to Me [waters of judgement]; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. [Thus the rainbow sign in the sky, the rainbow is the sign of the New Covenant of grace]
We all know about the symbol of the rainbow as God’s promise that He would never flood the earth again, but the rainbow is also a symbol of the promise that Jesus has taken the floods of judgment for us. It’s a symbol that God has promised He will NEVER be angry with us nor rebuke us! In heaven right now, there is a rainbow around the throne of grace where the King of kings is seated at the right hand of God. (Rev 4:3)
When you imagine Jesus in heaven, see this rainbow all around Him and all around yourself because you are in Him! Envision this with your spiritual eyes any time you think God is angry with you! Today Jesus Christ is seated at the Father’s right hand, having cleansed our SINS completely.
Hebrews 1:3 – When He had by Himself [without any help from us] purged our sins, [cleansed completely] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. [Why? because the work is finished!]
Not one sin that we have committed or will ever commit was left unpunished. Not one single sin remains in the new creation that He has made you to be! That is your identity in Christ! Righteous! Do you know what this means?! God is not counting your SINS against you! This is true love. This is perfect love.
1 John 4:17-18 – Love has been perfected among us [love has been accomplished/ carried through to completion (teleioō)] in this: [this is how we know that we are loved perfectly – ] that we may have boldness in the day of judgment [boldness – parresia – free and fearless confidence, without concealment, nothing to hide, nothing to prove, nothing to gain, nothing to lose, no one to convince, no one to impress. Why?] because as He is so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. [That Greek word translated “torment” literally means “punishment.” We do not have to fear punishment from God or wrath from God!] But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
A little note here: Consequences are not the same thing as punishment. When bad things happen, it’s not God punishing you. It’s sin in the world. It may be consequences for your own sin. It may be the laws of nature, or it may be the devil, but it’s not God trying to torment you. His response to your sin was Jesus Christ! What is perfect love? The kind that says –
Romans 8:1, NASB – There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
God Demonstrated His Love
Before you had a thought for Him, God already had a plan to redeem you. Before you were even born, Jesus died for you!
Romans 5:6-9 – For when we were still without strength [helpless to do anything to save ourselves!], in due time [kairos] Christ died for the ungodly. [The Greek word translated “ungodly” – “destitute of reverential awe towards God, condemning God.” Wow! The scandal of the Gospel is that Jesus died for the people who condemn Him!] 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, [“Justified” – made righteous.] we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him [Jesus].
All of the wrath of God against all your sin and lawlessness and unrighteousness and iniquity was poured out on the spotless Lamb of God, and because of that, you will never experience the wrath of God.
Two blessed states
A long time ago before Jesus entered time and history, in Psalm 32:1-2, David looked down the corridors of time and described the era that we live in this side of the cross, and he envied us:
Romans 4:6-8 – …just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness APART FROM WORKS. [He’s getting ready to describe two distinct blessed states for the person who doesn’t have to work to be right with God] 7 [#1] “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; 8 [#2] Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”
The first blessed state is that our sins are forgiven. He’s got you covered because He covered the charges against you! That first blessed state says our debt has been paid. When a debt is forgiven, you don’t owe it anymore.
The second blessed state is different than the first: it says “blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.” That means that all of the record of our debt has been wiped out! It’s as if we never sinned in the first place – a fresh slate!
“Shall not” is “ou mē” like we had in Hebrews 8:12 and John 8:12 – “ou mē” Here in Romans 4:8 it’s He “shall not, never, certainly not, not at all, by no means will He ever impute your sins to you – he will never count your sins against you. God does not count our sins against us because the record of our sins does not exist in heaven! It’s been taken away by the cross! God will not find fault with you because He found fault with Jesus for all your sins!
But so we sin? Yes. This passage does not say you are blessed because you don’t SIN. It says you are blessed because when we do sin, God does not count it against us! “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shallot impute sin” was written for people who don’t have it all together!
The Conviction of the Holy Spirit
But what about the “conviction of Holy Spirit?” Doesn’t the Holy Spirit constantly remind us when we fail? Isn’t that His job? Well, what did Jesus say about that? What does the Holy Spirit convict us of? Before Jesus went to the cross, He prophesied about the coming of the Holy Spirit. He said,
John 16:7-10 – It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, [to help you!] He will convict the world [in this context “world” – kosmos – means everybody – the believer, the unbeliever, and even the devil] of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: [The word in the Greek for “convict” is a judicial word meaning “to convince as in a court of law.” So the Holy Spirit convicts – convinces as in a court of law – 3 things: sin, righteousness, and judgment, but so there would be no confusion, Jesus explained – ] 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; [this is not speaking of you. This is talking about the unbeliever, and what is the sin? Unbelief in Jesus. The Holy Spirit helps them by convincing them that they are sinners in need of a Savior. ] 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; [That’s speaking to you and me!]
For the believer, the Holy Spirit convicts (convinces as in a court of law) you of righteousness because “you (not they – the unbeliever – you) see Me no more.” Jesus was prophesying of the coming New Covenant reality of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in believers. The Holy Spirit is in the believer’s life to convict us of righteousness.
What is Jesus doing at the Father’s right hand right now? He is always living to make intercession for us with His work for us. His nail pierced hands and His blood mediate for us, declaring that we are righteous, acquitted, deserving of our inheritance and every blessing in Christ. And the Holy Spirit is within us to remind us of that truth. He’s helping us to overcome our unbelief. He’s helping us to believe we are the righteousness of God in Christ. He testifies of Jesus to us.
Now if I’m sinning, how will I change? My new nature in Jesus will know when I’m not walking in consistency with the nature of God, and the Spirit of God operating in my new nature will lead me into truth and right behavior. Grace empowers us to live right. If you believe right, you will live right.
John 16:11 – [the Holy Spirit convicts-] of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. [This is talking about the devil. We are not the ones being judged!]
The Holy Spirit is helping us to see that the accuser, the devil, has been condemned and triumphed over at the cross.
John 9 and the man born blind
If we look at Jesus and read the Gospels, we’ll see that He wasn’t preoccupied with sin. He was preoccupied with loving people, saving them, healing, delivering, feeding, teaching, and setting people free from condemnation. This is shown so clearly in the story of the man born blind in John 9:
John 9:1-2 – Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
First of all, if the man was born blind, how would it be possible that HIS sin caused him to be blind? That makes no sense. Think about it – the disciples were more conscious of sin than they were of the Healer who was standing right there in front of them! Because this man had a problem, they automatically thought of sin. Listen to Jesus’s answer:
John 9:3 – Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. [revealed means manifested in him – his healing! – He was the one who said “I was blind and now I see!” – a supernatural event occurred without reference to sin!]
We often want to know “Whose sin caused this problem?” But why not just ask the question: “Was this problem covered in Jesus’ blood at the cross?” Blame games don’t fix problems! Needs exist to be met, or as Jesus put it: “so that the works of God should be revealed.” This should be our perspective! The revelation of grace causes a paradigm shift in our thinking: from a man-centered / sin-consciousness to a Jesus-centered, Jesus-consciousness.
Abraham and Isaac
When we look at the whole Bible “cross-eyed,” we will see Jesus everywhere. Before I had the paradigm shift to pure grace, I thought every passage in the Bible was about me and being a better person – or else! Back then I would use the story of Abraham laying Isaac on the altar to teach that we needed to lay down all of our idols to the Lord. I’d say something like this: “Abraham laid Isaac, the son that he loved, on the altar. Have you laid down your Isaacs?! Those Isaacs are standing between you and God! They’re idols! Lay it down for Him! What is it? Is it money? A child? Your career? Bring your Isaac to the altar and worship the Lord with it!”
But here’s the typical result:
- you either walk away under condemnation because you couldn’t lay down your Isaac, or
- you don’t even know what your Isaac is or
- you lay it down, but you pick it back up tomorrow!
Is the story of Abraham laying Isaac on the altar about you? Or is it about someone else?
Is that story about you laying down your Isaacs? Or is it about the Father taking His Son, His only Son, the Son that He loved and giving Him up for us all?
Genesis 22:2 – [God said to Abraham] “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
This is the first mention of love in the Bible. Every time you see the first mention of something, take note because there is a significant meaning behind it. The first mention of love is not about our love for God. It’s about God’s love for us! It’s God was saying to Himself, “Because I love the world, I’m going to give My Son, My only Son, the Son that I love for them.” Why did God send Abraham to Mount Moriah? Because the highest peak of Mount Moriah is Calvary, also called Golgotha where Jesus was crucified!
Genesis 22:6 – So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. [Father and Son went together – a picture of the intrinsic covenant made within the Godhead on our behalf]
Isaac was a shadow of Jesus, who carried the wood on his back:
John 19:17 – He, [Jesus] bearing His cross, [the wood] went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.
Back to Genesis:
Genesis 22:7-14 – But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” [The literal Hebrew there is “The Lord will PROVIDE HIMSELF a lamb for the burnt offering.” (No “for”)] So the two of them went together. [There it is again! Father and Son going together. Then Abraham bound his son, laid him on the altar, but the angel of the Lord stopped him. verse 12 -] 12 He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering [JESUS!] in the place of his son. [us!] 14 Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, [Jehovah Jireh] as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”
Now we can look at God and say, “Now I know, Father, that You love me because You have not withheld Your Son, Your only Son, the Son that You love from me!”
Romans 8:32 – He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
If the Lord has given His best, He will surely give us the rest! If you believe that God would withhold any good thing from you or not keep His promises to you, then you would be saying that there are things that God values more than Jesus.
We’ve tried to put ourselves as the hero in the story of Abraham and Isaac, as we offer up “our Isaacs” so that God will bless us. But we aren’t the heroes!
- The hero is our heavenly Father who gave up His only Son for us!!
- The hero is our heavenly Lamb who laid down His life for us!!
Woman with the Alabaster box
The story of Jesus’s forgiveness that touches my heart more than any other is the account of the woman with the alabaster box of perfume that she poured out on the feet of Jesus. Of all the women in the Bible, I relate to her the most because of her unabashed gratefulness to Jesus and her heart of love towards Him in response to His unconditional love for her.
Luke 7:36-38, NASB – [You know the story – Jesus was invited to dine at the home of Simon the Pharisee] Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He [Jesus] was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, 38 and standing behind Him [Jesus] at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.
This woman was probably a prostitute. The alabaster box of perfume was very expensive, possibly worth enough to live on for a year. The box was made of a beautiful species of marble, and the perfume oil it contained was very rare and of great value. It was like an investment that we might make in the stock market. This woman broke it and poured it on the Lord and worshipped Him with it. As a prostitute, we can imagine how she earned the money for this expensive alabaster box of perfume by selling herself in shame. All the shame of lying on her back night after night was removed because of Jesus’s love for her. In response she poured her love on Him.
Luke 7:39, NASB – Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”
Reading his mind, Jesus asked the Pharisee a question: “which would love a creditor more — a debtor who had been forgiven a debt of 500 denarii, or one who had been forgiven a debt of 50 denarii?” Simon gave the obvious answer: the one who owed more. Jesus responded to him –
Luke 7:40-48, NASB – And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” 44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, [He’s looking straight in her eyes. Another woman who saw the glory of God in the face of Jesus. He said to Simon- ] “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” [“Have been” – done – PERFECT passive indicative]
Her love for Him is the proof of His love for her. He who knows he is forgiven much, loves much.
1 John 4:10, NLT – This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
1 John 4:19, NASB – We love, because He first loved us.
Can you see how grace changes everything? It’s all about Jesus first.
Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Put a magnifying glass over your life and say, “The Son of God who loved me gave Himself for me!” Take it personally. Don’t just casually say, “Oh, I know that God loves everyone.” Practice the love of Jesus for you. And there is no better time to do that than when you fail. Look at God’s great demonstration of love – the cross – where your sin was taken away. That’s when you’ll really know you’re loved. The more we receive His love, the more we will love Him and others, and we’ll live out the royal law of love – self-sacrificial love – and there is no bad behavior in that. Again – If you believe right, you will live right, from the inside out.
Copyright info: All scriptures in the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.
- (NKJV) New King James Version. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
- (AMP) Amplified Bible, Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
- The Message, Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson