Christ removed the barrier

Friday’s funeral was blessed. Even those who do not know Jesus were comforted by the clear and appealing gospel message presented by a pastor we barely knew. He told those present that their abhorrence of death could be overcome by a relationship with the Savior.

Spurgeon’s verse for today gives me pause. If anything was missing or at least not emphasized on Friday, it was this reality.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned — every one — to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

Perhaps funerals are not the best place to talk about sin. People are grieving a loss as well as brought face to face with their own mortality. Emotions run deep. Any words that sound like “you are a sinner” throw a barricade in front of divine comfort. However, sin actually is the great barricade between us and God. How can God comfort anyone if sin stands between them and Him?

This is where the grace of God comes in. Sometimes He comforts anyway. One person told us that she listened to every word spoken and every word in the hymns. The heavy burden of grief was lifted from her shoulders. Even though she has rejected God for many years and He did not have to do that, He did.

She was not the only “sinner” at the funeral. This verse is inclusive. All of us have turned from God’s way to our own. This is even the definition of sin. We are all guilty before God.

The verse is also personal in that everyone turns to his own way. We each have a particular direction where that turning takes us. My sin is not like the sin of others. We each have a distinctive self-determination that takes us away from God.

The good news is here though, even in the same sentence as the bad news. Yes, we are all like sheep and have each turned from God to do our own thing, but the Father has put all that sin on the Son. Jesus experienced the weight of all our sin and died for all of us. He took our guilt and suffered our penalty so we can be forgiven and have eternal life. This is grace.

Friday, a portion of grace was automatic. That is, those who do not believe experienced a measure of God’s comfort in their sorrow. They did nothing to earn or deserve this comfort; God just gave it.

Yet the fullness of grace that includes forgiveness of sin and the sure  promise eternal life is not automatic. This grace is not bestowed on everyone, regardless. It comes without earning it or deserving it (who could?), yet it must be received. He never forces it on those who push Him away.

The pastor used the words “it must be received.” I wondered if the hearers needed an explanation. How do you receive forgiveness and eternal life? Or was this also made plain by the Holy Spirit? Did He open hearts to show that the grace of God is like any gift?

*****

Father, we miss Mom, yet have assurance that we will see her again. She knew your grace and believed that You died for her. Today my prayer is for those who heard on Friday about grace, but have not yet received what they heard or Your gift offered to them. Open their hearts to their need. Help them see that sin separates them from You, but You have already offered a way to have victory over sin. It isn’t in brushing it aside, but in sending Jesus to suffer the penalty that we deserved. It is in asking for and receiving forgiveness. It is in inviting Jesus into our hearts, to share our lives and to show us the way to heaven. Because He lives forever, we can also. Eternal life is Christ and Christ is Your gift to us.