Promise Verse: God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:21
Four kinds of Righteousness:
Definition of Righteousness: Many of us have the wrong definition of righteousness. We have set up things to do to be righteous before God. i.e., A pastor told me. He is a man of prayer with sincerity. When pastors get together for prayer, his voice will stand out. The way he would describe the attributes of God. But he had traces of sugar readings. He had sick sensations and could not get up early in the morning and pray. There were times I got sick and could not get up early in the morning.
We are not righteous because we do right. We became righteous because of what Jesus did for us at the cross. Righteousness is not based on our right doing. It is entirely based on Jesus’ right doing.
“But Pastor. Rufus, even though I am a Christian, I fail from God’s standards. When I am on the road somebody comes in between and I lose my temper and behave badly. I got angry with my wife and children. Why should God be with me when I fail? Don’t you know God is holy?
Great Question: (Exo 12:7 NIV) Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. The Israelites in the houses were oppressed people, bitter towards the task masters. There were idolaters, wicked people. Moses had seen an Egyptian being unfair to his brother Israelite. He killed the Egyptian who did this.
Such imperfect people were in the houses. The sign of security and salvation is the blood. (Exo 12:13 NIV) The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. It was not the Israelites’ perfection that protected but the blood of the Passover lamb that protected their lives.
(1 Corinthians 5:7 NIV) Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch–as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Apply the Blood of Jesus daily over your life, upon your husband, wife and children, upon the church families and individuals. I apply the blood of Jesus upon the city of Chennai.
God does not bless you as a new covenant believer by your perfect conduct. He blesses you and me because of the sinless blood of the Lamb of God.
God’s holiness is for you. His righteousness is for you. Jesus’ obedience is for you. Because of Jesus’ Blood, God’s unmerited favour (grace) is given to you.
No disease, gossip, weapon formed against you can successfully come against you.
God does not speak bad about you. i.e How can you keep your tongue good? When you go home and be with family you could be tempted to talk ill about others at the dining table. In a family, the husband hated the wife. The husband went into affairs outside the family. The grandparents raised the children. The children were longing for their parents’ love. I see the children mentally affected.
In another family, the husband hated the wife and the in-laws. The wife is submissive, loving, and obedient. He continued his hatred for the in-laws and spoke words of hatred to the children. The children did not get love from the father and mother. The young man is mentally affected. Speak good things on the dining table. Look at the good in other people. If you were to speak about the wrongs of someone, pray for them.
Well Pastor. Rufus, Jesus is with some people because they do a lot of good. I don’t do much good. How can He be with me? Some people believe that God is with me because I have given time to volunteer in the church. God is with you not based on what you have done or not done. This kind of thinking keeps the focus on you. He is with you by relationship, not rules.
A native of interior China wanted to become a Christian but couldn’t understand how Christianity was superior to Confucianism and Buddhism. One morning he came to the missionary in a happy mood saying, “I dreamed last night, and now I understand. I dreamed I had fallen into a deep pit where I lay helpless and despairing. Confucius came and said, ‘Let me give you advice, my friend; if you get out of your trouble, never get in again.’ Buddha came and said, ‘If you can climb up to where I can reach you, I will help you.’ Then Christ came. He climbed down into the pit and carried me out.” It takes the Savior of man to do that. Only a Saviour would stoop so low as to save a sinful soul like yours and mine.
(Mat 26:40-41 NIV) Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
You should pray and fast. Peter could not keep up the standards. He fell into temptation. You could say it has been days and a month since I prayed and read the Bible. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Jesus was gracious to pick up Peter and make him a prayer warrior. So will He be with you.
The presence of Jesus is with you as God’s gift to you. You cannot earn or deserve His favour. He will never leave you nor forsake you.
“But Pastor. Rufus when I fail, doesn’t Jesus leave me?
No. Jesus is by your side to encourage and keep you. (Psalm 37:23 KJV-BRG) The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
(Psalm 37:24 KJV-BRG) Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. Even your so-called friends may leave you and go but Jesus sticks with you as an unceasing friend.
When you are up, He is with you, He is with you. When you are down, He is with you. When you are doing right, He is with you, even when you have failed, He is still with you.
(Heb 13:5 NIV) Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” In Greek it is given as a double negative. I will ‘never never’ leave you.
Promises: God has given so many promises in the Bible. There are around 9000 promises in the Bible. People still are afraid and lose faith in the Lord. There are many people who worry and anxious about the things in your life. When we say God has given His promises. The question is “Does it apply to me?”
Does God care about my husband hating and treating me badly? Sometimes your spouse has said “If you had died, life would have been better for me.” Your spouse did not give breath in your nostrils, and they can’t take it from you. It is God who gave life and has faith He has kept you alive and you are living for Him. You wonder “Is God interested in the financial problems I am going through? He has so many problems to care for. Know that God is a personal God. He is interested in you. (1Pe 5:7 NIV) Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
How do you feel when I enquire about you? It takes time. Why do we enquire? Can I be of help to you? I can pray for you. I can counsel you from the word of God. I have undergone such things in my life. When you have come for prayer, know God is enquiring about you and what you are undergoing. God is enquiring how you are doing? What is bothering you, worrying you?
Carrying your worries, stresses, and daily struggles by yourself shows that you have not trusted God fully with your life. It takes humility, however, to recognize that God cares, to admit your need, and to let others in God’s family help you. Blessed are the poor in Spirit. Sometimes we think that struggles caused by our own sin and foolishness are not God’s concern. But when we turn to God in repentance, he will bear the weight even of those struggles. Letting God have your anxieties calls for action, not passivity. Don’t submit to circumstances but to the Lord, who controls circumstances.
Bitter and Bad Words to Wives: Some women who meet with me say “My husband is scolding me with unparliamentary and even foul language.” When I hear them, I am so downhearted. I don’t want to live, pastor. I am living for the children. He even scolds the children with abuse.
I have faced such abusive words. Few years back a man called me “dog”. This is the word I call the devil. I knew who was speaking through him. Because he spoke, did God get away from me? No and no way.
Hebrews 13:5 (AMP)
5 I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]
To Jesus: (John 8:40) As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.
(John 8:41) You are doing the works of your own father.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
They meant Jesus was born out of wedlock to be a bastard.
Jesus did not give them an answer for this. He was delighted in what the Father called Him.
(Mat 3:17) And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Heaven’s Voice:
(2 Corinthians 5:21) God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
He made Him: We note that well. This was the work of God Himself! The Father and the Son (and the Spirit as well) were in perfect cooperation in the work on the cross. This means that the work of atonement on the cross was the work of God. If God did it, it is well done. I am not careful to defend an act of God: let the man who dares accuse his Maker think what he is at. If God himself provided the sacrifice, be sure that he has accepted it. (Spurgeon)
On a dark and stormy night, a child was lost in the streets of a large city. A policeman found him crying in distress and gathering enough from his story to locate the home, gave him directions after this manner. “Just go down this street half a mile, turn and cross the big iron bridge, then turn to your right and follow the river down a little way, and you’ll see where you are.” The poor child, only half comprehending, chilled and bewildered by the storm, turned about blindly, when another voice spoke in a kindly tone, “Just come with me.” The little hand was clasped in a stronger one, the corner of a warm coat was thrown over the shoulders of the shivering child, and the way home was made easy. The first man had told the way; the second man became the way. This is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ has been for us. From eternity He has told us that He is the Way. He has to become our Light also, to lead us to the Way.