Today was extremely difficult and trying. There were multiple issues, some out of my control and others caused indirectly by me! We sometimes make mistakes. We wilfully do things that are going to have bad consequences. Even while we do them we know the consequences aren’t going to be good, but we still do them. Maybe we wish nothing is going to happen, but these things usually catch up with us. So I am a Christian and I have done something wrong. Am I going to get punished by God? Am I going to miss out on Heaven? No not at all. Ephesians 2:8 – 9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of work, lest anyone should boast.” Good works cannot save us and neither can bad works condemn us. If I am a Christian then I know when I’ve done something I shouldn’t. I know when the Holy Spirit nudges me and says, ‘you shouldn’t have made that decision,” or, “Seriously, Alex, Is that your idea of being righteous?” Do I feel guilty if I do something wrong? Yes!! But if I’m wise only for long enough to repent and to apologize to God. I really don’t want God to be displeased with me. I want to have that intimate relationship with Him. John 1 :13 – 14, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God.”
So, if god is our Father, like it says multiple times in the bible, is He suddenly going to stop being our father because we do something He didn’t want us to do? If your child breaks the neighbour child’s toys, you are going to be very displeased with him, and you will carry out some kind of punishment so that he can learn a lesson. Will he still be your child? Will you still be his parent? Yes, of course! God doesn’t stop being our Father because we messed up. He might not be very pleased with our behaviour, but He certainly won’t stop being our Father. Galatians 4:6-7, “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Clearly we are God’s children, not foster children, or servants, we are His legitimate children. Ephesians 1:4 – 5, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him is love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,” Isn’t that just wonderful? Adopted children are just as legally someone’s children as children are by birth.
Okay, we’ve established that we aren’t going to be rejected because we did something dumb. Is God going to punish us? I don’t think so; Jesus already took everything on Himself on the cross. We will have to face the consequences of our irresponsibility though. We are still God’s children and He is still our Father. Once we have asked Him to forgive us – not because we are going to lose our salvation, but so that we can restore our relationship – so that He will be pleased with us. Psalm 103:8, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in love.” Psalm 86:5, “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You,” We should not waste time on the process of getting back into our intimate place with God. If we are going through hours and days of feeling guilty, just remember guilt comes from the enemy, not from God. The devil wants us to believe that we aren’t good enough and that God is rejecting us.
Chris Tomlin sings, “You’re a good, good Father, it’s who you are, And I’m loved by You. It’s who I am. God loves us and we are loved by Him. Don’t forget that!
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