Christian Living
Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 NKJV
“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake;
And I will not remember your sins.
Put Me in remembrance;
Let us contend together;
State your case, that you may be acquitted.” Isaiah 43:25-26 NKJV
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 NKJV
There is a teaching by Kenneth Copeland (see Kenneth Copeland Ministries, http://www.kcm.org), in which Brother Copeland tells of a time that God spoke to Him and said, “Kenneth, Did you know that if it weren’t for sin, I never would have had a serious thought?”1 Bro. Copeland said that the Lord explained this by saying, “What would there have to be serious about? We could have just had a party every weekend!”2
The minute I heard Bro. Copeland tell that story, I got happy! That was NOT what I had been led to believe in the previous 32 years of my Christian life! I had been led to believe, either through express teachings or by implication, that God was always serious. I had never been given any indication that God wanted to have anything even remotely resembling “a party.” I thought that even before Adam’s Fall from grace in the Garden of Eden, God was the sort of Father who was a stern, strict taskmaster, not a Dad, who wants to spend Saturday afternoons playing with His kids in the backyard.
But when I heard Bro. Copeland’s teaching, I instantly understood that our heavenly Father created us because He wanted a family that He could enjoy! When Adam & Eve sinned, God still wanted His family and He wanted them to be HAPPY. God only became “serious” because of sin’s effects on us – His most prized & precious creation. Since that first sin, God has endeavored to bring each and every one of us back into a joyful, sin-free relationship with Him. He knew from before the beginning that sin would interrupt His relationship with us, thus His covenant with Jesus the Son that Jesus would take on our sin and pay the price that we would never be able to afford (see John 1:29 & Revelation 13:8).
In addition, God knew from the beginning that sin would have the potential to weigh us down with guilt and shame, so He made it clear that He would not only forgive our sins, but He would forget them. Now if God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, can forget our sins, we should be able to do the same. Why should we carry guilt over something that no longer exists?
So, I have resolved that since Jesus has paid for all of my sins, and since God forgets any sin that I confess to Him as soon as I confess it, and since my Father wants to enjoy time with me and teach me His word, His will, His ways, and His wisdom, I am going to take full advantage of that! And so should you.
God’s not mad at you. God wants to enjoy you as His beloved child! He wants a real, personal, Father-child relationship with you. Let Him forgive your sins, forget your sins, and have a party to celebrate!
Seriously.
---------------------------
1 Copeland, K., DVD Series Living in the Blessing, Disc 2, Part 5, “Developing a Confident Heart” (Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Fort Worth, TX 2006).
2 Ibid.
Adapted from the author's website at http://www.seedwords.com/pages.asp?pageid=83917
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