All Heaven just for ME??

A few days ago, while I was praying and asking God to forgive me of my sins (which is something that   I believe we need to do daily), God brought a very clear picture to my mind. I was alone before the throne of Christ, and I was the only sinner in the universe…I was the only one who had nailed Him to that tree. And yet, despite all this, Christ just looked at me with the most tender loving eyes and whispered, "I have forgiven you! And all those sins are gone now! I paid the price, now I want to welcome you home!" 

The mental image just broke my heart and I cried and cried. To think that "I" was the only one…and yet, He had stepped down from Heaven just for me. He had been wounded just for me??? And even though He knew I would nail Him to a cross, He had come to earth just for me. And now…NOW He was welcoming me HOME??? (It was hard to wrap my mind around this amazing picture!)

“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). The Lord could have cut off the sinner, and utterly destroyed him; but the costlier plan was chosen. In His great love He provides hope for the hopeless, giving His only-begotten Son to bear the sins of the world. And since He has poured out all heaven in that one rich gift, He will withhold from man no needed aid that he may take the cup of salvation, and become an heir of God, joint heir with Christ." 1 Selected Messages, p. 323

As I was thinking afterwards, the thought came to me that part of the reason that we don't realize the significance of our sins NOW is that we look around and think, "Well, I'm not the only sinner. I'm not alone in killing Christ. There's another 7 Billion other humans on this planet that have done the same thing, and many millions more that lived before. In fact, probably a lot of them have done worse things than me. So, I'm not the only one at fault here!"

With this group mentality, it's easy to forget the weight and the individual consequences of our sins. But when sinners stand before the judgement someday, they will NOT stand as a group. They will stand as an individual alone. If I fail to repent and confess my sins now, I will be one of those lost sinners that go trembling before the throne. 

Thankfully, if we confess our sins now, and allow Him to change us, we will never face this terrible day…at least not the same way that the wicked will! According to the Bible, the judgment for the righteous is actually taking place right now. That's why it's so important that we get our lives right with God NOW, while we still have opportunity.

I love these verses as it captures it all:

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Rom. 8:32-34

Review: 

• Bible Thought: He poured out all Heaven just for me!
• Blessing: I'm thankful that we as Christians experience the first judgement, rather than the second judgement. Praise God, we have an Intercessor currently standing at the throne of God interceding for us.
• Battle: "Judge not, that ye be not judged!" Sometimes, I think I need to help God out, but I must let God do His work! For those that have wronged or hurt us, God will repay. We can leave all those things with Him.