Weight Loss
One of my recent credit card payments was a bit too high. I had just taken vacation, spent a bunch of money, and forgot that I had some other material items on the card. It got to the point where I was afraid to open my credit card app to check the balance. I didn't want to see how much debt I had accumulated. Needless to say, as my payment due date approached, I felt like I had this HUGE weight on my back. Thankfully, I had enough money to cover the costs. When I made the payment, the weight was lifted and I felt so good. It was a liberating moment to know I had a clean slate.
Now, just last week, a young man named Angelo was sharing a testimony during our discipleship meeting. During the testimony, he described how he was sharing the Gospel with someone. The words he used to describe Jesus' death and resurrection were incredible. He said that God pays us for our sin, in death. But he added how God paid those wages to His own Son instead of us. (ref. Romans 6:23)
Upon hearing Angelo's testimony, I felt liberated again, like a weight off my back. I began to praise God right there and then. Not because I paid a high credit card bill. Not because I had enough money to cover those costs. But because I remembered how heavy the weight of my sin was and how I lost that weight - not because of anything I did, but because of what Jesus did for me.
The Greatest Weight of All
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins. (Ephesians 2:1)
The elephant in the room is death. Everyone dies. We die because of sin. God pays these wages of death to everyone because if you're guilty of one sin, you're guilty of them all (ref. James 2:10). And there is not one person who hasn't been poisoned by sin. So all of us, even God's elect, must leave these bodies behind.
Death isn't the end though. It's actually just the beginning. The greatest weight of all, sin, is so much to bear that it comes with an eternal cost. The Bible is clear that anyone who dies in their sin without repenting will spend eternity in hell (ref. Luke 13:3). Hell is not a place to be desired, even for your worst enemies. It's not a party with Satan, it's joining him in perpetual torture.
Can you imagine never being able to escape hell? Well, you can escape now...but you don't have much time to decide.
The Greatest Gift of All
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
God saw the weight of our sin and decided the best weight loss plan was His Son. He knew we couldn't save ourselves from hell fire, but He could. Therefore Jesus, God incarnate, sacrificed himself on a Cross and subjected himself to receive the full wages of sin. Death's wages were paid to Jesus, not us! Hallelujah! What an indescribable love God offers us in salvation through His own Son (ref. John 3:16-17).
But what can we do to make sure we receive the greatest gift of all? Well, God isn't asking us to clean up our act and be perfect. He only asks for our heart. He extends His everlasting arms towards us and says, "Come, boldly to my throne and ask for forgiveness." That's it. The Bible says God will never turn away a remorseful heart (ref. Psalm 51:17). God's will towards us is that none of us should perish, but that everyone should repent (ref. 2 Peter 3:9). This is a gift, my friends. What are you going to do about it?
The Greatest Decision of All
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given us assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31)
The time is now to make a decision, your greatest decision, on whether or not you will repent and follow Jesus. It's incredibly sad that many people will reject Jesus and this free gift because they're afraid of what other people will think of them or what they might have to turn away from. But I tell you this - are you going to let the fear of man or what you might lose on earth dictate what happens to you for eternity? You will not be able to negotiate your way into Heaven once the time of salvation has expired. When we die, time is up.
I was reading a social media post the other day written by a college professor. She was baffled that a student came to her after the semester ended and asked about changing their grade from a D to a C so they can transfer schools. The professor responded, "Unless you retake the class, your grade remains a D."
On that day of judgment, there will be no negotiation and there will be no re-dos. Maybe you can retake a college course but you have one chance at salvation in this life. Only those that had faith and trusted Jesus for their salvation during this appointed time, having their hearts committed to the Gospel will be saved (ref. Hebrews 9:27).
You see, you cannot have faith if you have already seen. Faith is not seeing, yet believing. And without faith, it is impossible to please God (ref. Hebrews 11:16). Faith in Jesus is the only diet for sin and death that works.
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