Yes, We Are!

         How many of us have a situation where you think you have upset someone, but you are not sure, and neither of you are talking about it? It creates this awkward situation where both of you are kind of scared to bring it up. The funny thing is, the weak attempt we sometimes have to try to bring it up, is something like, “Hey, are we good?” 9 times out of 10, disagreements are always due to miscommunication. If people just choose to talk about it, things will immediately be cleared up. We do this with God all the time. We think that what we did was so egregious that God cannot even dare to look at us. We condemn ourselves and carry this heavy load of guilt and shame, and for no reason! Because if we work up the courage to ask Him: ‘God! Are we good?’ Do you know what He will say? ‘YES, WE ARE!’

Why are we good with God? To answer that question, we must go to the beginning. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit (Genesis 2 and 3), God, and His creation that He loved so much were separated. From that moment on, our friction with God began. Before the fall, every time God looked at His creation, He would declare it was good. After the disobedience in Genesis 3, God changed His tone and attitude towards men. Look how He talks about us in Genesis 6:

Genesis 6:3 & 5-7, “And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” ….Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’”

This brought tears to my eyes when I read it because I know how much God loves us. For Him to say, ‘I am sorry that I have made them’ that must have hurt Him a lot. Then David in Psalm 51:5 says, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” We were all born in sin and have been at war with God for most of mankind’s existence. We were not good with God until the birth of Jesus. Jesus became the bridge or intercessor for man and God. Because of Jesus, I can boldly come to the throne of grace. Because of Jesus, I can experience the love of God. Because of Jesus, I know I am a child of God. Because of Jesus, God can now shower us with His love. Because of Jesus, God can now dwell with His people. Because of Jesus, God can now say, they are My people, and they are good.

What did Jesus do for us? As we read on in verse 8, God drops a bombshell on us. Genesis 6:8, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Grace is throughout the Old Testament. Let us go to the very first incident where we will see His grace. Genesis 3:21, “Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them.” God created a precedent that you will see throughout the Old Testament. This template in Genesis 3, is displayed in the law of Moses. God, who is Holy and Just, had to punish someone for the sin committed in the Garden of Eden. But the dilemma God had was that He is also love. James 2:13 says, “…. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” So, instead of punishing mankind, whom He loves, God chose to punish an innocent animal. It is not that that these animals are holy or anything, they were just filling in until the true sacrifice of God arrives. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice because He completely took away our sins. All the animals could do was cover sin.

Hebrews 10:11-14 & 17-18, “And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool….then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

This is the reason God can say ‘Yes we are good.’ We are not ‘sinners saved by grace…we were sinners who are saved by grace. The blood of Jesus has reupholstered us. Hebrews 10:16, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds, I will write them,” In the Old Testament, Holy Spirit consistently says that our hearts are wicked and cannot be trusted. In the New Testament we see that God will put His laws in our hearts and in our minds. Because of the blood of Jesus, I can trust my heart again. I can trust that the laws of God will flow out of my heart.

The next logical question is why then do I still sin? For this we must understand Spirit, Soul, and Body. We are a spirit being, we have a soul, and we live in our physical body. The day that I become born again, my spirit is made perfect. Look at this verse in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” This only affects my spirit. My spirit is made perfect and righteous.

My soul though is being made perfect by the word of God. James 1:21: “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” The soul, which is made up of the mind, will, and emotions, is growing in righteousness by renewing it with the word of God. The more you renew your mind (Romans 12:1-2), you will find yourself sinning less and less.

My body will be perfect in the age to come. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44: “So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown as a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” When Jesus comes back and/or we die, when we are raised up at the end of age, we will have our perfect sinless bodies.

The battle is in the soul. We must be diligent in our studying the bible and praying so that we can keep our minds from being swayed by ways of this world. You and God are good, but when we ignore Him, we alienate our biggest partner. God knows that you will make mistakes, He knows you are not yet perfect. He is the one that will give you the strength to overcome the sin that so easily besets us (Hebrews 12:1). He is the one that will pour out His love when you are filled with shame and do not know what to do. Do not be like Adam and Eve and hide after you sin, but be like David who runs to God when he sinned. All God is asking you to do is the following in 1 John 1:8-9: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

When we sin, we must make sure that we ask for forgiveness because Jesus already paid the price for it.