TODAY’S BIBLE READING:
Lamentations 4:1–5:22
Hebrews 2:1-18
Psalm 103:1-22
Proverbs 26:23
TODAY’S BIBLE VERSE(S):
Psalm 103:10-12 (ESV) “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
REFLECTIONS ON TODAY’S BIBLE VERSE(S):
Our Verses for Today speak to God’s holiness and His amazing grace.
They speak of His holiness because of the word “sins.” If God were only gracious and not holy, then there would need to be no talk of offenses, transgressions, and sins. They would be irrelevant because they were not to be taken seriously if God is only gracious.
Yet, God’s holiness cannot remain indifferent to sin. Our sins are outright rebellion because they are a violation of God’s clear and righteous laws.
But, after acknowledging our sins, our Verses for Today remind us of God’s love. They tell us that “as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;”.
That word picture is powerful. It paints a picture in our minds of an ocean of love that is as high as the heavens above the earth. Since we walk on the earth, we are submerged in God’s love every moment of every day.
How does God deal with our sins, though? We are sinful creatures that violate His law and He loves us but He cannot simply overlook our sin with its legal guilt. If He is to remain holy and just, our sin must be punished.
“as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
Our sin record that cried out for our condemnation was removed! If you were to point “east” and that line kept going infinitely in that direction and then you pointed “west” and we were to head infinitely in that direction, that is how infinitely far God has removed our sin and its cries for judgment and condemnation from us.
And that, my friends, points us to the cross of Jesus. God can’t simply wipe our sin record clean. Someone has to pay our sin debt. Someone has to be punished for our crimes against a holy God.
Look to the cross, my friend. That’s what Jesus did for you. He stepped into our world to pay the sin debt of everyone who will look to Him, trusting in Him to make them right in a holy God’s eyes (John 3:16).
So, do you want to know how offensive sin is? Look to the cross.
Do you want to know how loving our God is? Look to the cross.
Do you want to know how our sin debt was cancelled? Look to the cross.
If you have no other reason to praise our God today, the cross provides you enough reason to praise our God forever and ever!
Matt’s Musings 