Rising Above the Cloud: Victory Over Sin and Guilt Through Christ

First Sunday of Advent Readings: 

Isaiah 11:1-10

Luke: 1:26-38

Isaiah 7:10-14

Matthew 1:18-24

Announcements:

• The Progressive Dinner is coming up this Saturday. Harbor House will be providing the main course with potato soup and chili; if you would like to contribute, please call Shirley.
• This Wednesday's meeting will be on Thursday, combined with a home dedication for the Brumleys at 7 PM.

Updates: Please keep praying for them!

• Brian Weeks--he is back home, but they still don't know what is causing his clots
• Katherine's sister Sarah--goes in for a second test for cancer on Thursday
• Robin Fine--she has gotten a good report and has a positive outlook
• Byron--he was able to be here for Thanksgiving
• Mary--still in very bad health and not feeling well at all
• Zeb and Jolie--Jolie is inducing labor on Monday, Zeb will probably need colon surgery
• Dwayne--his mouth is breaking out

Praise Reports:

• The Rogers family made a business proposal that was accepted. 
• Warren and Mary just celebrated their 69th anniversary.
• Richard got to be Jesus this week when he gave pre-op instructions to a stressed patient. The first thing this woman saw was his cross necklace, that opened door to a conversation, and he picked up a Gideon Bible and read Philippians 4:6, to her great comfort.
• We had an awesome Thanksgiving at Harbor House with over 50 people!
• Vanessa had a blast on Saturday going to Eureka with friends.
• The Dessert Auction last Sunday went wonderfully, there was no spirit of negativity, and they raised $3,800 for needy children and families in our community.
• The Allens had a great visit with Rebecca and Brenna.
• The Rogerses had a great party with some of the Sulphur kids and an exchange student from Japan named Mayuko.

Prayer Requests:

• Rebecca--God has opened some great doors for her, pray that she takes advantage of them
• Roy and Julie--safe travels on their trip to Minnesota
• Danny--he is almost paralyzed with back problems. He's gone to the doctor and may require back surgery, but will have to stop smoking first. Pray strength and love to him like he's never known, relief from pain, and that the desire for cigarettes will be taken away. Please lift him up daily this week.
• Vanessa--keep her strong as she encourages others and shows Jesus to her family
• Greg--not feeling well
• Dorothy Allen--struggling with cancer
• Augustins--health: the girls have bronchitis, Joel's wisdom teeth will be removed, and Elaine is having eye problems
• Matt Sales, Sandra, and John--pray a hedge of thorns around them, that they would find their Savior, take hold of Him, and never let go
• Grace to Byron, Mary, and Pam
• May God guard the gates of Sulphur Springs, bless upcoming community events, and bring peace to our town. 

impending storms, a photo by paul (dex) on Flickr.

In  Hebrews chapters 8, 9, and 10 the author compares and contrasts the old way of life under the Law and the life under the New Covenant. The focus in Hebrews 10 is the root issue of how we relate to God. It is wonderful to talk and sing of our God as Father, Redeemer, Deliverer, Miracle Worker, Healer, Savior, Hope-giver, etc., but when we get down to brass tacks it looks like this: you and I are part of mankind, living in a fallen world with a storm cloud over us. No matter what we try to do, however close or far away we walk with the Lord, that cloud is always there. (Every time you turn on the TV you see people wrestling with so many issues; they're under that same dark cloud.) That is the curse of sin on this earth. We don't measure up, we've fallen, sin is the root issue of all our trials and frustrations. All the wonderful traits of God only mean anything because God has dealt with our sin once for all.

Read Hebrews 10:1-18. First we'll look at vs. 1 and 2. Day in and day out, year after year, priests offered sacrifices for sin. Only after bringing something costly and having priests perform a sacrifice could a sinner walk away with a clear conscience, and that only lasted until the next time they messed things up. Because the sacrifices had to be done over and over again they clearly did nothing with regard to the root of the problem; they only served as a reminder of sin. If they had worked then the people "would no longer have had consciousness of sins." Do you sometimes feel that you're under a law and are continually falling short? That feeling is always around us, and always will be as long as we're under that cloud of sin and judgment. 

But there is something very different and unique about Jesus' sacrifice; we need to realize that in order to live the Christian life we were intended to live. In vs. 5-7 Jesus is saying, "So Father, You're not satisfied with these sacrifices, it's not accomplishing Your will. But you've given me this position and privilege, and I will do Your will." Vs. 10 says "by this will" we are sanctified. What is that will? Not perpetual sacrifices in the temple. It was God's will that sin would not be the root issue anymore, that mankind should never again have to deal with sin and their sin nature and be continually reminded of their mistakes and shortcomings. His will was that they be sanctified, done with sin once and for all. 

Vs. 11-12: Jesus sat down. If somebody is working for you and they sit down, then they're either finished, lazy, or fired. "Sittin' down on the job" is not looked on favorably. But if the job is done then sitting down is appropriate. Jesus accomplished His work so He can "sit down" now with good reason. 

Vs. 13-18: Sin can be thought of as everything we miss the mark on--what we don't do and should--and lawless acts are things we do that break God's Law. If the Lord has forgiven all our sins and lawless acts then what more is there to be done? "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).

1. Through Christ our sins are taken away (vs. 11). Our consciousness of sin is now done away with! Sometimes we Christians walk with too much of a consciousness of our failures because we think that's what God is looking at, but He is trying to say once for all that He doesn't even remember our trespasses! That is all between you, your high priest, and your fellow man. 
2. Those who are sanctified are perfected (vs. 14). Did you look in the mirror today and see perfection? You have been made perfect in God's eyes! This is a concept that's sometimes hard to grab hold of. Think of it this way: we are not "perfect" per say, but we are "complete" in Christ Jesus. We lack nothing! We've not fallen short! Do we make mistakes? Absolutely. But if in the Kingdom of God our mistakes do not bear a consequence on our eternal destiny, then can't it be said that we've not made any mistakes at all? Our sins do affect other people sometimes, but are these eternal effects? Are the sanctified (those who have put their faith in the High Priest) responsible for other peoples' eternal destinies? Our mistakes do affect others, but there is nothing we can do that will send someone else to Hell. We might trip other people up, but what they do with the injuries we cause them is their responsibility. In the same way, we cannot send other people to Heaven. 
3. If you were parented with guilt and shame as motivators then you know that it is a way of controlling you--when your shortcomings are continually thrown up to you then you feel the guilt and shame over and over again.  God does not want that to be our relationship with Him, so our sin was dealt with once for all. In choosing to make sin not an issue He had to do it once for all and take the risk of saying that it applies to past, present, and future. It's as if God owns an infinite bank account and has taken the risky chance of giving us blank checks! This is because He wants us to obey in order to please Him, not out of guilt and shame. That is the sanctified life! We're free now, free from the guilt. If we come to God with guilt and shame then that's all us, not Him calling it to remembrance. He says that the issues have already been dealt with. This is not license for sin, though, this is the freedom to live responsibly without guilt. If we make mistakes--which we will--we do not have to go to God to deal with them! He's already dealt with everything; we just have to take it up with our High Priest. Get free of the storm cloud of sin and shame, and take hold of confidence through Jesus. 

God was willing to take the risk of us using His grace as license rather than keep us under guilt and and coercion. Personal Application: if you feel any guilt or shame in your walk with the Lord or think that you just have to serve Him to keep out of Hell, then you've missed it; that's sin at work in you. We no longer live under the Law that reminds us of our sin, but we still have this world around us and our own body of death to keep us mindful of it. Appropriate the truth of scripture to yourself and remember that you are living in love and mercy, not a consciousness of sin! 


If we don't grasp these truths then we give sin power over us. 


This is our goal as parents, by the way: that our kids would have this kind of relationship with us. We can still be disappointed in them at times and stand firm on our values, but our love should be constant and unconditional, giving them the same grace given to us by God. We have to grow to the place where we can say to our kids "sink or swim," where we hand them the rope and let them go on their own.