Thursday, July 2, 2015

Thurs Devo: Free Atonement

From last week, do you remember what God told Moses after the Israelites blamed Moses and Aaron for killing Korah?
Numbers 16:44-45   44 and the Lord said to Moses, 45 “Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.” And they fell facedown.
Moses and Aaron responded with humility, reverence for God and compassion for the Israelites. Even though the Israelites deserved God’s wrath, Moses and Aaron didn’t say “Yeah, God, you get them! We’ve had enough!” Instead, look what they courageously and selflessly did!!!
Numbers 16:46-50   46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started.” 47 So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them48 He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. 49 But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah. 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, for the plague had stopped.
Aaron made atonement [reparation for a sin; reconciliation between God and people] for the Israelites who had personally sinned against him. What a fore-shadow of what Christ perfectly did for all of us, once and for all! We don’t earn Christ’s atonement, just like the Israelites didn’t earn Aaron’s atonement. It was costly to God and Jesus, but free to us!
Romans 3:23-26      23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
By faith, we accept Christ’s atonement on our behalf! Then, we can enjoy reconciliation with God!
Do you and I truly realize that we don’t deserve Christ’s sacrifice of atonement, we can’t earn it, but we can fully receive it by faith?
How will you and I appreciate the free atonement offered to us through Jesus Christ?

Alice

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