Sin is the reason that Jesus came to save us.
Our sins and the sins of a fallen world entangle us, torment us, and drive us to desperation. Separated from God we cannot be whole and complete. He came for US! He came that we may come to know who God is and be reconciled with Him.
We still believe in error, that we have to be righteous enough to come to Jesus for salvation, but that is not true. He calls us to repentance not perfection. True repentance means to acknowledge within yourself that you are a sinner in need of a savior, to look at your life and know in your heart that there is a better way.
We all have a void that we try to fill with drugs, sex, greed, emotional entanglements, I could go on and on. That desire and emptiness can only be filled by going back to a rightstanding relationship with God.
We can do that by believing that Jesus is the Son of God who came to save you from the curse of sin and death. He wants you to believe HE IS, desire his truth, and REPENT of your past wanting to move forward IN HIM.
Repent Means : to change, to make up your mind to turn, to stop going down a one way street of destruction and make a U-TURN right where you are standing. To come to know I cannot do it by myself I need you Lord.
Sometimes people do not know what it means to repent. Can I say that some people can be in the Church for a long time and still not have repented (yes I said it) .
Not trying to put anyone down just want to point out the importance of repentance, a true relationship with our Lord requires it. It is what separates the have and the have nots in the body. Repentance is a heart change, it is Sorrow for the sins that we have committed against God.
Psalms 51 written by David is a perfect example of a repentive heart. Let’s look at just a few verses that explain the anquish that David felt seperated from God. (Scripture below)
David sinned by taking another mans wife and then having the husband murdered. He lived with this sin hidden in his heart for about a year before God confronted him with the prophet natan. God called out his sin and David came to himself and realized what he had done
David’s heart was full of sorrow for what he had done. He asked God to redeem him and save him from himself. We have a sinful nature that is not for God but against him. We were born with this nature due to the fall of Adam. He asks for cleansing with Hyssop, that is a symbol for the blood of Jesus that washes us white as snow. He is crying out for a new heart and a new mind. He begs God not to remove his Holy Spirt from him, we have that same Holy Spirit in us when we say yes to the Lord. He asks for the restoration of the joy of God’s salvation and the power to be sustained. He will then become the light in the darkness to others that we have been called to be. He tells God that he will sing praises forever just to have him back in his life.
This is repentance of a contrite heart. This is what you should know and understand when you come to Christ! You are looking at your sinful life and know in your heart that it seperates you from your loving Father and you want to come home and be right with God. This is true repentance.
Have you been here, have you experienced this crying out of the heart? If you have then you are saved and in the fathers hands. If you have not and you are in the church search your heart and talk with Jesus and pray the prayer of David.
If you do not know the Lord, you can. Open your heart and pray this prayer and you to can come home to the Kingdome of God and know the joy of salvation.
Psalms 51
1.Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice
9.Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, isb]”>[b] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.
18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
