Have you ever met someone who is just completely oblivious to what’s going on? Like they live under a rock? You guys all know the boomers who are on Tik Tok, dancing even once the song has stopped playing. Or you’ve experienced a Karen asking you if she's "dripping" today. Let's be honest, people who are oblivious can make life a little cringe. But, the scary thing is oftentimes we can be oblivious spiritually.
So as we consider that, let's look back at our theme verse and point for this series: Whether you know it or not we are at war and we have an enemy, the devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion, he wants to destroy you. Jesus said that Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy your life. He wants to take every good thing from you and he wants you to play the part of the fool. The good news is that God did not leave us in this battle defenseless. He gave us weapons to use to not only fight but to win the battles that we face every day. So it's time to fight.
John 10:10, our key verse for this series, says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
We've been discussing how Satan would love to destroy our lives, and as much as we don’t want to mess up and give in to temptation there will be times (probably daily) when we will. We will say something we shouldn’t say, we will do something we shouldn’t do, we might even go somewhere where we shouldn’t go. The bottom line is sometimes we will choose to go the wrong way rather than God’s way and we will feel a distance between us and God.
Here is the question- Does that mean we are no longer Christian when we sin? Thankfully the answer is “No.” Otherwise, no one would be a Christian because Christians still sin.
When a person gives their life over to Jesus they become a child of God. Their relationship with God is secure because God will still be faithful to us even when we are not faithful to Him.
Let me explain it this way. When you were born, you were born into a family, and no matter what you did you would always be their child. Being their child had nothing to do with your performance or how well you behaved. You were their child no matter what. In the same way, when a person gives their life to Jesus they are born into the family of God. You become a child of God and your relationship with God does not change based on your performance or how well you behave. You are God’s child no matter what.
What does change, (sometimes daily), is how close the relationship is between you and your parents. When you were a child, your parents had certain rules they wanted you to follow and they gave you these boundaries because they loved you and wanted you to have the best life possible. But you decided to disobey what they wanted. My guess is your parents did not disown you, but they were disappointed in you. You were still their child but the relationship was strained until you confessed what you did and made things right. And then if you had good parents, your parents would forgive you.
It’s the same way with God. God has given us boundaries that He wants us to live within because He wants us to have the best life possible. When we choose to ignore those boundaries, God doesn’t disown us but He is disappointed with us until we confess our sin to Him and make things right. And the good news is that God is eager to forgive us for what we have done to Him.
Our relationship as a child of God is secure, but our closeness to God can change from time to time based on our love and obedience to Him. Let me try to explain it this way.
Bob Stromberg tells the story of a day when his son came home from school from a book fair. He wanted a book about killer sharks, but it was so expensive that he didn’t ask his dad for the money. Oh no. He went right to the source where the real money is. He went to Grandma. He called her and she agreed to get the book. After weeks of waiting, the book finally came and it was beautiful. He couldn’t wait to take it to show and tell the next day.
The next morning Bob was getting ready to head for the airport when his son came walking down the steps with his book. It was snowing outside so Bob asked his son to make sure the book was covered up so it wouldn’t get wet. But the little boy was so excited he didn’t listen to his dad. He just kept putting his shoes on. He said, “I’m going to see if they will have a special show and tell time so I can show the book off to the whole class.” Bob said, “That’s great son, let’s see if we can get the book in the backpack.” The boy looked at his dad and said, “It will never fit.” Then the little boy said, “After show and tell I am going to take the book out for recess.” Bob said, “Listen son. You can’t take the book out for recess. It is snowing outside and each snowflake is like a drop of rain. The snow will ruin that book.”
The little boy looked at his dad and said, “It will be ok Dad.” Bob said, “No it won’t be ok. That’s an expensive book.” He was in mid-sentence when the little boy screamed “Dad, I can’t do anything about the weather ok.”
Bob said, “That’s right but you can do something about the book. Let’s put the book in a baggie.” The little boy couldn’t imagine carrying a book in a baggie to school. He said, “No way.” Bob said, “Then you’re not taking the book to school.” His son looked at his dad and said, “Then I’m not going to school.” Bob said, “Then you are not keeping the book.”
It was one of those rare moments when the parent has the perfect comeback. He looked dumbfounded and then he said what was on his mind. He looked at his dad and said, “Dad sometimes you are so stupid.”
That was it. Bob looked at his son and said, “I’m late for my flight but we will talk about this when I get home. Now go to school.” The little boy stomped out the door and down the street with his fist at his side and his hat off of his head.
Later that day when Bob got to Minnesota he called his house. His wife answered and said, “There’s a young man who's been waiting by the phone to talk to you.” The next voice Bob heard was his son’s voice trying to choke back the tears. He said, “Dad, I want to tell you how sorry I am for the way I acted… and about what I said, and… I’m just so sorry."
Bob said, “That’s ok son. We’ll talk about it when I get home.” The little boy said, “Dad at recess today I didn’t even play with the other kids. Do you know the spot by the playground where you can look across the parking lot and see the edge of our driveway? I just stood right there and I stood there for all the other recesses too.”
Bob asked his son, “Why did you do that?” Through hard sobs, the little boy said, “Dad, I just kept looking at the driveway, because I was sure you would come.” Bob said, “But you knew I couldn’t come son.” Now the little boy’s voice was barely audible. He said, “I know Dad but I just needed you so much to come. I’m so sorry. Please, can you forgive me?” Bob said, “Of course son. I love you and I forgive you.”
Bob’s heart was broken. For the first time, his son felt the pain of separation from his dad. A separation he had brought on himself. A separation only a father could restore. As Bob walked through the airport, tears ran down his cheeks. Tears not only for his son but also for himself.
Bob thought, “How often have I felt the despair of separation from my Heavenly Father? Separation imposed by my own behavior. How often have I carried a burden of guilt, wondering if God could possibly forgive me? How often have I ached like my son, longing for the embrace of his dad? Could it be that God longs to hold me in His arms as much as I longed to hold my son?”
The answer is yes. God is eager to forgive us. In fact, God is more eager to forgive us than we are to ask for His forgiveness.
Do you know what I have found to be true? People will do one of three things when they sin. They will either minimize, maximize, or they will repent of their sin.
Some people when they disobey God minimize what they have done. They will say things to themselves like, “What I did wasn’t that big of a deal. It’s not near as bad as what so-and-so did. What they did was much worse. It’s not like I murdered anybody. It wasn’t that bad. There are a lot of people who do a lot of worse things than I did.” Have you ever used any of those excuses?
If we do something enough, eventually our conscience gets hardened and we actually believe that what we did wasn’t that big of a deal. There are a lot of people who live their life minimizing their sin, but other people go the direct opposite extreme.
People who maximize their sin walk around beating themselves up over what they have done. They replay what they did in their heads over and over again making sure they feel as lousy as they can because in their minds they believe that they don’t deserve to be forgiven.
People who maximize their sin actually believe that God would never forgive them. In their minds, they have to pay for what they have done themselves. Never mind that Jesus already paid the price for their sin on the cross. Even though He took the beating they deserved upon Himself, they ignore what He did for them and they spend their days beating themselves up.
What they don’t understand is that their sin could never be so great that it would disqualify them from God’s forgiveness. Think of it this way. No matter what you have done, what is the worst possible penalty that society could give to you? The death penalty, right? That is as bad as it can get. Jesus has already suffered the death penalty on your behalf to pay for all your sin. He has paid the ultimate price for you.
We don’t have to beat ourselves up for what we did that was wrong because Jesus was already beaten for our sins. The price we owed God has been paid in full by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
We aren’t supposed to minimize our sin and we are not supposed to maximize our sin.
What we need to do is repent of our sins. What does the word repentance mean? Repentance is to have your heart break because you know what you did broke the heart of God. Repentance is more than just saying you’re sorry. That is a part of repentance. But it is not just feeling bad for what you have done. It is the desire to go in a different direction and change your behavior.
Here is the bummer. You are never going to be perfect, which means you will have moments that you fail for the rest of your life. The question is, does God ever stop forgiving us? Is there a point where God says that’s one too many times? I’m cutting you off. I am through with you.
No. God will never give up on you.
Psalm 86:5 says, “You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.”
Isaiah 43:25 says, "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”
Jeremiah 31:34 says, "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our
transgressions from us.”
God forgives. And because God forgives, we can forgive ourselves and focus on the future. God will never give up on you, so don’t give up on yourself. When Satan whispers in your ear that God could never forgive you, you remind him and yourself that forgiveness is just a prayer away.
God gives us guidelines because He wants us to live life to the full. The devil will do anything and everything he can to destroy our life. When we sin, it creates distance between us and God. Satan wants us to either maximize or minimize our sin because that will prevent us from going back to God. But when we repent, when we turn away from our sin and turn towards God, He will always forgive us with wide-open arms.
You might think, “Sometimes, I don’t feel forgiven even after I pray to God about what I did.” Thank God forgiveness is not based on our feelings. We are forgiven because the Bible says so.
1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us for our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
If we confess it and turn away from it, He forgives us for it. Period. Whether you feel like He did or not. Stop saying, “I’ll believe I’m forgiven when I feel forgiven” and start saying, “I’m forgiven because God says I am.”
But here is the thing, some of you are still either maximizing or minimizing your sin. You might actually believe that what you did is so big that God would never forgive you. What you don’t understand is that your sin could never be so great that it would disqualify you from God’s forgiveness.
On the other hand, some of you are minimizing your sin. You say something like, “What I did wasn’t that big of a deal. It’s not near as bad as what so-and-so did. What they did was much worse.”
Whichever camp you are in, I’m here to tell you that it’s time to repent. It’s time to turn to God and turn away from sin. Maybe you have never done this before. Well, if you haven’t, it’s as easy as A, B, C.
Admit
Believe
Commit
If you are ready to take that step today, talk to a Remix leader or text the word “remix” to 97000.
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