What If God Canceled Us?
IF GOD CHAMPIONED CANCEL CULTURE…
- The Samaritan woman stayed washed up.
- The Prodigal Son is stuck in the pig pen.
- Zaccheus is still up a tree.
- Peter is still casting nets, not using His keys and feeding His sheep.
- James and John, the sons of thunder, are all wet.
- Saul of Tarsus kept holding coats and chasing down Christians.
- Thomas drowned in his doubt.
- The thief on the cross is hung out to dry.
- John Mark might as well have stayed AWOL.
- Hebrews 11, what with Noah (the drunk), Abraham (the liar), Moses (the murderer), Rahab (the harlot), etc., is never written.
- At least five of the seven churches of Asia are in the dark.
- All humanity is hopeless (Rom. 3:23).
- He is neither faithful nor just (1 John 1:9).
- He never would have died on the cross (1 Tim. 2:6).
That is not to say that God “winks” at ignorance (Acts 17:30), indulges willful sin (Rom. 6:1-2; Heb. 10:26ff), or encourages walking in darkness (1 John 1:6ff). But, God is the God of the second (third, fourth, etc.) chance. He is perfectly patient (2 Pet. 3:9) and fully forgiving (Heb. 7:25).
Our world needs the message of redemption now more than ever!
Simon the Leper
"While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper." (NIV).
Jesus dined at Simon the leper, evidently, he was a healed leper. I'd like to think a leper healed by Jesus. But he had to have been healed of his leprosy or he could not have been hosting a "party." Yet he was still known as "Simon the leper."
He was healed but once a leper always a leper
A leper's life was difficult not just because of the leprosy but maybe more so because leprosy was believed to be a curse from God. It was believed that a leper was a leper because of some heinous sin in their lives and they were under God’s judgment. But when Jesus heals He heals completely
Are we guilty of the same thing?
Once a drug addict, once an alcoholic, once an unwed mother, once an illegitimate child, once a divorcee…
He’s Simon the leper.
Once a liar, once a thief, once an adulterer… God forgives but we never forget.
We must receive all those who Jesus receives.
With the exception of…, if you can answer that go back to God and ask Him which of your sins he is still holding against you.
Debt Canceled
Back in August of 2019, Chase Bank did something for its Canadian credit cardholders that is unprecedented; it completely and utterly wiped their debt away! Isn’t that amazing?! Especially when you consider the fact that there had to be some customers that had maxed out their card.
Can you imagine what some felt like when they got the letter from the Chase Bank? Some may have thought it was the bank coming down hard on them, only to find out that their record had been cleared!
What would that feel like? Can you imagine it? It shouldn’t be hard for us to imagine, right? For we have, by faith, received the grace of God extended to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. By His sacrifice, we are completely and utterly forgiven. Our debt to a holy God has been completely wiped clean!