It is very difficult to predict what the weather is going to do in September, in a little town in England. As I look outside, there are very dark clouds on one side, some patches of blue sky on the other. It is drizzling, the sun is casting its rays here and there and the wind is creating fascinating shapes on the grass as it is blown in all directions. My feet feel cold and I think this is it. No more summer. It is dark and dull. The weather is bad. When today is like that I completely lose hope that tomorrow could be different. Even though the weather is pretty unpredictable at certain times, there are scientists all over the globe using more reliable tools to understand it and predict more accurately. It is fair to say that for some people a dark, grey day will drag their mood down and all they will see is the dark and gloomy aspects of life. All will be doomed.

As Christians we, sometimes, get into this pattern of gloominess. We recognise sinful patterns in our lives and we immediately say: “I am a bad person, no one will love me. no one”. “Jesus doesn’t love me, really. How could He?”. “Why do I keep on falling into the same mistakes again and again?”. “I am a terrible Christian”. “God doesn’t want me in His kingdom”. Get the picture? Perhaps you are there right now. I know that more often than not I can be dragged down by the lies the devil tells me. I get distracted and forget the truths of the Gospel I need to hold on to.

Contrary to the weather, which can and will be unpredictable in many ways, even with all the advancements in the sciences, God is totally reliable. Unchanging. Merciful. Full of grace and love. Just and Holy. What He stablished is forever. What He promises He does. The best part: He sent His Son, Jesus, to rescue us.

It would take many pages to even begin to say how wonderful the news of the Gospel really is, but I want to encourage you to put up a sign “REMEMBER THE GOSPEL” in your mind and heart as we consider some truths of the Gospel which will help us continue our journey of faith and trust that we are secure in God’s love because of what Jesus has accomplished for us.

Jesus our Propitiation

This funny word “propitiation” has been translated in more recent Bible versions as “atoning sacrifice” and is used to describe the fact that Jesus’s death on the cross dealt with God’s wrath once and for all.

Jerry Bridges says: “I believe a word that forcefully captures the essence of Jesus ‘ work of propitiation is the word exhausted. Jesus exhausted the wrath of God. It was not merely deflected and prevented from reaching us; it was exhausted. Jesus bore the full, unmitigated brunt if it. God’s wrath against sin was unleashed in all its fury on His beloved Son. He held nothing back.” (The Gospel for Real Life, page 54)

Jesus drank it all. The cup is empty. That is why the apostle Paul says in Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”.

God’s wrath is His justice in action, giving to everyone what we deserve and in our case, because sin is so serious and it is always against God and his law, we deserve God’s judgement. Every time. This is rather a simplistic view of God’s wrath. We mustn’t forget that a Holy, Just God has to punish sin.

Jesus our Scapegoat

In the sacrificial system God gave the Israelites in the Old Testament, on the Day of Atonement two goats were brought before the high priest. One goat was sacrificed and the blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies (the place where God dwelt). The second goat was the scapegoat. The high priest would lay his hands on the goat’s head and confess the sin of the people. Then the goat would be taken to the desert and sent away, never to return.

This was a picture of what Jesus would accomplish for us on the cross. He is our scapegoat. All our sins were placed on Jesus.

As we grow as Christians we become more aware of our sin, or rather our sinfulness and we feel guilty. This is when we need to stand and by faith see that Jesus on the cross is bearing our sins and taking them away from the presence of God. This removal of our sins from the presence of God is called expiation.

How wonderful it is to know God remembers our sins no more. In the book of Micah 7:19 we read:

You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (emphasis mine)

In Hebrews 8:12:

For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. (emphasis mine)

Jesus sent from the Father as our rescuer

God loves us. So much so that through the Bible He declares that He will bring us back to Him trough Jesus.

Here are some verses to consider:

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:9-10)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:3-5)

God is the one who initiates this rescue and He is the One who gives His Son. He is the One who shows complete and utterly unimaginable love for us.

When you are feeling guilt because you are more aware of God’s holiness and your own sinfulness, don’t get dragged down by thoughts that cast doubt on God’s goodness. Instead, lift the eyes of your heart to the cross and REMEMBER THE GOSPEL. Sing praises to God, magnify His name and thank Him for such an amazing gift.

God bless.

I remember as a teenager being encouraged to think about the question “What Would Jesus Do?”. We spent hours making bracelets with the four letters WWJD and we wore it with pride! Surely that made us look “holier” or better equipped to do the right thing. Some of my friends had T-shirts with the same letters and we all thought we were the best people in the world, until, of course we were faced with temptation and all of a sudden we felt like we wanted to cover the bracelets and look the other way.

Through the years the question above became somewhat an empty saying amongst Christians and for those outside church a reason to mock, or an opportunity to guilt trip people. Sam Witwicky, in the movie Transformers, wanted to buy a car and he needed a certain grade at school, before his parents would buy it. When his teacher gave him a lower grade he told the teacher a sad story about a boy who would not be able to get a car if he doesn’t get the grade, he says to the teacher “What Would Jesus Do?” and with that he stares at the teacher with puppy eyes. In that situation it worked as Sam gets the car.

I remember once in my church many years ago hearing a mother speaking to her son and saying “What Would Jesus Do?” and immediately saying: “I know. He would send you away, you disobedient, careless, selfish boy!”. I don’t know the context to this conversation and I cannot say what the boy did to cause his mother to be so angry at him. What I can say is that I remember this because what she assumed about Jesus’s response is wrong.

I would like to encourage us today to look at this question afresh. There is a profound meaning to it. We, as Christian women, want to live our lives imitating our Lord Jesus. We want to be more like Him every day. I would suggest we look at a different question first “What Has Jesus done?” in order to more clearly understand how we should approach the WWJD question.

Jesus our maker

Jesus created us. Yes. He was there in the beginning with God and he was there before all things existed.

John chapter 1 tell us these amazing truths:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. (verses 1 to 4)

Jesus knows everything that there is to know about us because He created us. Even more astonishing than that, we were made in the image of God, to reflect His character. To walk this earth as His representatives ruling the world He created under His rule.

Jesus has all authority to change us and remake us as He pleases and because He is good, He wants what is good for us too.

Jesus our Saviour

To say to people think back to the cross and see what Jesus did for you might seem like stating the obvious. We all know Jesus died in our place, don’t we? We repeat those words but the familiarity with the story may cause the fire in our hearts to quieten down. It is there but it is not emitting heat and it is not roaring. Have we lost the sense of being indebted for what He has done? Have we forgotten the meaning of this extraordinary salvation brought to us by God Himself? Perhaps we should be praying the words of the song: “May I never lose the wonder, the wonder of the cross. May I see it like the first time standing as a sinner lost. Undone by mercy and left speechless, watching wide eyed at the cost. May I never lose the wonder, the wonder of the cross. Behold the God-man crucified, the perfect sinless sacrifice. As blood ran down those nails and wood, History was split in two…” (The Wonder Of The Cross by Vicky Beeching)

Some might be a bit puzzled thinking what exactly has Jesus saved us from? Others might be scratching their heads saying to themselves: “I don’t need saving. I am absolutely fine and that is the end of it”. The Bible tells us we are all sinners and we fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23)

Back in the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve rebelled against God and decided they wanted to be like God, God sent them away from His presence and away from the perfect place He had given them. He placed an angel guarding the entrance to the garden with a flaming sword (Genesis 3:24). They could never go back. Sin had entered the world and all seemed lost. Eternal separation from God, ie, spiritual death is the penalty for sin.

As God cursed the serpent in the Garden He promised there and then He would provide a rescuer. He would bring salvation to mankind by crushing the serpent’s head. (Genesis 3:15) Through the entire Bible we can see God’s plan in action and all of it points to Jesus. Jesus laid down His life for us. (John 10:17-18)

If we believe in Jesus and what He did for us, ie, that He died in our place and was raised from the dead on the 3rd day and is now in Heaven seated at the right hand of God the Father and one day He will come to judge the living and the dead, if we believe that, we are saved from eternal punishment away from God. We are saved. There is no more condemnation. (Romans 8:1)

Jesus our example

Jesus lived a perfect life. There was no sin in Him. He obeyed God’s commandments perfectly. He revealed the Father (John14:9).

We need to spend some time looking at the Gospels again to see how Jesus walked this earth and showed us how to be compassionate, humble, good, kind, how to serve others, how to spend time with God the Father in prayer, how to make disciples, how to resist the devil. Jesus told us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul and He told us to love one another (John 22:37-40).

When we ask the question WWJD, we need to look at the Bible for the answer. He has given us plenty of examples of how he lived. The sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is a perfect example in the Gospels that shows Jesus teaching the people how to live lives pleasing God.

All the principles that we need so that we can imitate the example shown by our Creator and Saviour can be found in the Word of God, the Bible. I encourage all of us to look back at what He did for us (created us and saved us). We are in Him if we believe in Him and trust in Him and follow His example.

A word of warning: do not be a Sam Witwicky who used the WWJD question for his own gain. Be careful not to distort what the Bible says in order to get what you want out of a situation. Look at God’s Word faithfully. Jesus told us to obey his commands (John 14:15; 14:21; 15:10). So let’s be obedient to Jesus and live according to his teachings and not our own selfish desires.

As I was about to finish this post praying that we would find the strength in Him to answer the WWJD question based on Jesus’s life examples, a song came to mind, so I will finish with this song: O Perfect Love by Neil Bennetts

God bless.

_{Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash}