I recently saw a video of a rescued dog. He had been in a cage all his life.
A lady went to an animal rescue place and purchased him. Now he belonged to a different owner, and she took the door off the cage because she wanted him to know he was free. But he would not come out.
He learned that his new owner loved him and cared for him. Often, he and his new owner walked down the street together enjoying each other.
The life that dog had reminds me of something in the Bible.
We are born with a sin nature.
Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Very shortly we yield to that sin nature and so do things against God’s will, every one of us. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,...
1 John 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
The consequences or penalty for sinning is separation from God and eternity in Hell.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But God loves us and wants us to be reconciled to him, our sins forgiven or wiped out.
Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
2 Corinthians 5:18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;...
1 Corinthians 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
So, we must realize we are sinners separated from God, but if we realize that, we can come to God, ask forgiveness of our sins and call upon Jesus Christ to cleanse us of our sins.
1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God gives us a new life, new hope and new future.
Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
1 John 3:5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
See you in Church next Sunday.