Easter Means No More
Condemnation
By R.W.
“Christ sacrificed his life’s
blood to set us free, which means that our sins are now forgiven. Christ did
this because God was so kind to us” (Ephesians 1:7) CEV).
Have you ever wondered who
put Jesus on the cross?
It wasn’t Judas or Caiaphas.
It wasn’t Pilate. It wasn’t even the religious leaders who hated Jesus.
This may shock you, but there
are two answers.
First, it was God. The Bible
says it was his plan from the very beginning. It’s the reason he came to earth.
The Bible had predicted his death hundreds of years earlier.
But the other answer is us.
You put Jesus on the cross, and so did I. If we had never sinned, Jesus
wouldn’t have needed to die. Romans 4:25 says, “He was delivered over
to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (NIV).
Because Jesus died on the
cross, our sins are forgiven.
We’re all imperfect. We have
sin that makes us feel guilty about our past. We have regrets. But God doesn’t
want us to live with that guilt. That’s why Jesus died!
Ephesians 1:7 says, “Christ
sacrificed his life’s blood to set us free, which means that our sins are now
forgiven. Christ did this because God was so kind to us” (CEV).
Guilt wastes a ton of energy.
It wears us out and robs us of peace of mind.
Too many believers are saved
but don’t act like it. They’re full of shame and guilt. It dominates everything
they do. They believe in Jesus, but they haven’t been set free from the
condemnation of sin.
Romans 8:1says, “Now
there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (NLT).
“No condemnation” means God
doesn’t judge you for all the things you’ve done wrong if you’ve trusted in
Christ Jesus. He took your punishment on the cross. God doesn’t have to condemn
you, because Jesus took your condemnation.
That’s what Easter is all
about. You’re forgiven. Jesus died for you. You can live with hope and not
condemnation.
You can be free.