Romans 3: 23-25
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
It dawned on me that I have heard this first verse pounded into Christian thinking and I haven't ever really heard to many people keep it in the context of the following verses. It's as if we use verse 23 for an excuse when we sin or a condemnation when others sin. But this morning, this Easter Morning, this Resurrection Day Morning the following verses fell in line for what appeared to be the first time!
Yes we have all sinned, fallen short, and failed God's glorious standard, but the Gospel, the Good News isn't about us! It's about Him! YET GOD declares! Let those words sink into your physical, spiritual, emotional and moral failure for just a moment. "Yet God declares..." something big is coming.... THAT WE ARE RIGHTEOUS. It was done through Christ and not through any of our efforts of trying not to fail God. Jesus was presented before God as the sacrifice. We are DECLARED righteous because HE said so... well, because He is God.
The appearance of our failures can bring about many doubts and troubles. Insecurity and insignificance can creep in like a snake as the cloud of failure looms. But we need to remember that it's not about what we say, it's not about what others say, it's not about what the appearance of our failure is. It's all about Christ's victory on the cross,though we were undeserving, God's kindness DECLARES.
Look at what we celebrate today. Remember the pathway to the open tomb was marked by suffering, shame, brutality, accusation, betrayal, hatred, lies, and the appearance of failure. I think Mel Gibson displayed it best in The Passion of the Christ when Jesus let out His last breath it was like Satan instantly knew he had been defeated. The whole time thinking he was accomplishing something only to find in the end what looked like Jesus failure was actually His Victory. Appearances can be deceiving.
