The deepest cry in the human heart—to be enjoyed by God—is answered by God’s total acceptance of us in Christ. We want to feel clean and to have the confidence that our sins are gone forever; we’ll do anything to remove the feelings of guilt and shame. Many people think that only in heaven will these feelings be gone forever. This is not true; we can walk in freedom from guilt and shame now on the earth.
The blood of Jesus is ever before the Father (Heb. 9:12). Jesus didn’t come with the blood of lambs, bulls, or goats; He offered Himself—His own blood. It’s unthinkable that God could even have blood to shed!
When Jesus offered His blood, He entered into the holy place, where He could've said something like this, “Father, here it is. We don’t need the blood of goats and bulls any longer. We don’t need animal sacrifices as pictures and symbols.” The animal sacrifices were only there as a continual reminder to Israel that blood had to be shed in order for the penalty of sin to be lifted (Heb. 12:22).
When His blood was shed, the penalty was lifted forever from those who place their faith in Jesus and confess Him as Lord and Christ (Rom 10:9). It's not partial; it’s not temporary. The penalty of sin is lifted from one's life forever.
In the Old Testament, the high priest offered the sacrificial blood of animals as an atonement for the people’s sin (Lev. 16). This High Priest poured out His own blood as a one-time act, obtaining eternal redemption for whoever believes in Him (Heb. 9:12). As the earthly high priest put his hands on the lamb and symbolically transferred the sin of the nation of Israel onto that lamb, so God the Father transferred the sin of all the nations onto His Son, Christ Jesus.
Through the eternal Spirit, Jesus offered Himself to cleanse our conscience by His blood (Heb. 9:14). There is no more consciousness of sins (Heb. 10:2). The things we did yesterday are fully paid for. In Christ, we don’t go from being 100 percent under judgment to 80, 60, or 40 percent under judgment; in one moment we go from 100 percent under judgment to 100 percent under God’s full acceptance. These are the only two categories: we are 100 percent accepted in Christ or we are 100 percent under judgment.
There is no third category! But many of God’s people come up with a third category, which depends on how they are doing in their personal struggle against sin. They know they are going to heaven when they die, but they think God is holding their sins against them while they’re living on the earth. In this third system created by “religious” minds, it’s an 80-20 ratio: if they are doing well this month, God is happy and accepts them 80 percent; but for the other 20 percent, they think that God wishes they weren’t in His family—except that Jesus has already died, and the Father has to accept us.
This third category is not true! He 100 percent accepts us with enjoyment, even though He’s working on areas of disobedience in our life. Either there is nothing between each person and God or there is a mountain so large that nothing can remove it except the sacrifice of Jesus.
Thank God for His unspeakable gift (2 Cor. 9:15). Christ is risen! The power of sin and death is broken, and we are accepted and welcomed into His presence.
