This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. βI John 1:5-10
I came to Christ a broken sinner; I needed and continue to need a Savior. I constantly sin, in big and small ways. My heart is desperately wicked and wretched above all things. I am the chief of sinners. There is nothing good in my βflesh.β Left to myself, I love the darkness rather than the light. If Christ wasnβt faithful and righteous to forgive my sins, I could not go on another day. I am unclean, unclean; if Christ was not Godβs hot coal of righteousness for me, burning my sins away in His condemned and broken body for me, I would simply melt into my own nothingness. Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?! I have been subjected to a futility, unwillingly, from whence I long to be released. I am as a wandering star, awash in the corn cobs and filth of the swineβs delight. I am as a thief hanging on a tree looking at the broken body of the Messiah of Israel in need of a paradisical baptism. My limbs, my kidney pulsates with self-possessed desires, and thisworldly fantasies. Who is this Man? Get away from me Jesus, I am unworthy! Itβs as if thirty-pieces of silver were in my wallet, whose shine eclipses the Sunshine of the Christβs face. I am like the man, Cain, who walks around with the mark of God. Pilate and the Pharisees my brothers, crucifying the King of Israel; this is my sinfulness, my putrid self, wallowing in angst and the darkness of the nightβs soul.
CHRIST IS RISEN!
Of course you are not alone my brother. There is none righteous no not one. We do not possess inherit purity. Our only hope is that we live by another!
Which I know of course. This is simply stating the obvious in a moment of brokenness. He is Risen!
Bobby I appreciate your candor. It is refreshing and encouraging to me to know I am not alone in my brokenness. Jesus also rescued me 40 years ago in the bondage and brokenness of my sins. He is the lifter of our heads!
Amen
He is risen indeed! “And just as we have borne the image of the one who is made of earth, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.” Hallelujah!