Pardoned

I am a thief. I am a murderer. I am a harlot. I am a bigot. I am a hypocrite. I am an adulterer. I am a gossip. I am a liar. I am a predator. I am selfish. I am a cheater. I am an accuser. I am wretched.  I am filthy. I am a prisonerA man saved me. He came into this world as an innocent newborn, soft and perfect. He grew into a boy that held his mothers hand and then a man who did carpentry with his father. He loved his family. He loved his friends. He knew I was guilty and he saved me. He volunteered. He took this shame on himself and he stood naked and stripped of all dignity. He endured my stripes. My punishment tore at his flesh and ripped through him. He bore my cross. He carried it heavy and digging into his back. He wore it with a crown of thorns that pierced his skin. Jammed onto his head, this crown of thorns mocked the crown he should have been wearing as king.  The crowds roars of hate, drowning out the hoards of angels in heaven. He walked my road with bare raw feet. He felt my guilt so deeply and so heavy that none can fathom the grief of all mankind’s guilt being bore at once. My sin was speared through his hands and feet with each nail. His name was Jesus.  I owe him my life. He loves me enough to lay his life down for me. He loves you so much that he laid his life down for you. No one can take from you, what he has done for you. This is a gift for eternity. He is our Savior.

With this act of pure selfless love, Jesus ripped the veil and we can go directly to God in prayer. We can ask forgiveness, because the sacrifice was already made for us, by a perfect and willing lamb. There has never been or will ever be a greater gift. When Jesus died on the cross for us, he made a way for all mankind. He showed us the example, and then he became the last sacrifice to be made on the altar for mankind’s sin.  He is the way, the truth, and the light. He has victory over death.

I can’t wait to see his face someday. I wonder if I will be able to even look at him. I want to. I want to see in his eyes. I want to see his hands. I want to look at the scars I want to see his glory and feel his love. I want it to wash over me like warm water. I want to hug him. I want to know what he looks like and what his voice sounds like without all the distractions drowning it away and making it distant. I want him to claim me as his. I want God to know that I love him and I love his son. I want to make a great enough sacrifice in the way that I live, that there is great enough evidence to prove I am one of his children, and his servants.

Today, I will revel in the knowledge that Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He reigns forever and ever. Nothing will ever change that. No power can extinguish it. It is eternal. He has conquered death, and he has pardoned me.  Hallelujah…