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Prepare Your Heart

To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.

Read God’s Word

Genesis 25:1-26:11
Matthew 8:14-34

A Verse for Today

Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.

Matthew 8:16-17 (CSB): “When evening came, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed. He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick, so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: He himself took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.”

Reflecting on God’s Word

When we think about what Jesus did on the cross, we believe that Jesus died to pay the sin debt we owed to a holy God. That’s the truth … but it’s not the whole truth.

If all Jesus did was pay our sin debt and defeat sin, then we could rejoice that there would be no sin in our eternal home in Heaven. But there would be no such assurances about the absence of sin’s consequences. Can you imagine being in Heaven forever without sin but still having to deal with sickness, sorrow, pain, and even death? That, my friend, wouldn’t be Heaven!

When we look at Jesus’ years of ministry, we see Him healing people of all sorts of things. He healed people of problems like demon possession, leprosy, paralysis, and He even raised three people from the dead. All of those problems were the consequences of sin. None of them would exist if sin hadn’t entered the world in Genesis 3.

That’s why Matthew quoted a portion of Isaiah 53:4 in the verses I have chosen for today. He pointed out that Jesus was doing what Isaiah had prophesied the Jewish Messiah would do. He would not only deal with our sins but also heal people of sin’s consequences.

But even though Jesus healed so many people during His ministry, there would always be more to heal. We live in a broken world where the consequences of sin abound. The consequences of sin will continue to hound every breathing person every day of their life.

So Jesus had to defeat sin and sin’s consequences once and for all. That’s what He did when He died on the cross and rose from the dead three days later. When He died on the cross for sin, He defeated sin in the flesh. When He rose from the dead, He defeated the consequences of sin, the greatest of which is death.

Knowing that Jesus has defeated both sin and its consequences, we long for Heaven! We can’t wait to be in a place where we will never again be in the presence of sin or its consequences!

Revelation 21:4 (CSB): “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.”

Spend Time in Prayer

  • Ask God to search your mind and heart for any unconfessed sin. Confess what He brings to mind and repent (turn from it).
  • If you are dealing with a serious consequence of living in a broken world, consider asking Jesus to take it away or, if He will not do that, to give you what you need to walk through it. Always be careful to include the words and heart attitude: “Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.”
  • Thank Him for the day when you will be in His presence forever, never again to experience the presence of sin or its consequences.

Going Deeper

If you want to dig a little deeper into what it means that God will defeat sin’s consequences, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:

“What does it mean that God will wipe away every tear (Revelation 21:4)?”

Sharing

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Matt Ellis is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Polk City, Florida (fbcpolkcity.com)