Introduction
We live in a troubled world, trouble brought by sin.
Some of us are troubled by the sin around us. We cannot stand working in an office with toxic, gossiping co-workers. We cannot bear the ever-growing LGBTQ+ Pride Marches at Quezon City Circle year after year. We are disheartened when we hear pastors and church leaders we follow on social media, fall into sexual sin.
At home, we are growing tired of our irresponsible husband. We are growing frustrated with our disrespecting, nagging wife. We are exhausted by the constant hard-headedness of our children. We are really, deeply troubled by the sin around us.
Some of us are troubled by the sin in us. We are frustrated with our porn addiction that wouldn’t go away despite our many altar calls and campfire sin burnings. We are tired about our bitterness that never seems to go away every time we see our backbiting churchmate worshiping nonchalantly during worship. We are so disheartened when we have really tried to surrender to God our same-sex attraction, but still it returns. The sin in us really troubles some of us.
Some of us though, are troubled by the sin against us. Some of you are still nursing your wounds by your boyfriend who left you for another girl. Some of you are still angry at that boyfriend of your daughter for leaving her. Some of you are not ready to forgive the betrayal of your brother.
Or some of you are despaired, because your husband seems to be more wayward despite praying that he come to know the Lord. Some of you don’t know if your child will ever return to the church. Some of you, deep down, you are not sure if your child has a genuine relationship with God, and wonder, will your child be saved from his or her sin? Ah yes, the sins against us do trouble us dearly.
The result of all these bru-ha-has of sin: joylessness and trouble.
If you are troubled by sin today, listen to the good news of Christmas: Jesus has come to save you from your sins. (Matthew 1:21). Yes, you heard that right, your sins.
Now I know what you’re thinking, “I know that already, that if I receive Christ, I’ll be saved from hell, into eternal life!” Yet the saving we need is more than the location of our destination. The saving we need is from the sin itself. Sin is not just an act. It is a disposition. A disposition so rooted in our hearts that all we do is sin. And the sin that we do hurts us, hurts those around us, and drives a dark wedge between relationships.
So yes, we need to be saved from sins, and by saved from sins, I mean the whole package of sin – the blindness it causes, the burden it gives, and the bastion it builds. The good news is, that is exactly what Jesus saves us from.
Jesus saves us from our blindness to sin.
The one thing we like to do is bring attention to the sins or faults of others. Ask a wife what her husband’s top five faults are, you can get a list of ten in zero point one seconds. Yet, ask the same wife what her own faults are, she would probably list five (just to keep with your required number) but add qualifications such as “sometimes, minsan, may mga times.” Why? Because of our pride.
Our pride makes it easier to see the sins of others, and hate it when our own faults are under the burning spotlight. Yet that pride is keeping us blind to our sin. And when we are blinded to our sin, we experience no forgiveness. (1 John 1:7-10)
Jesus however, came to this world as light. This means that whoever He encounters, He shines His light upon them. He removes our blindness to our sin. He reveals what their true nature is – in all its messy glory (or unglory). He is like the flashlight you flash at the road you are walking on and suddenly see all the dog and cat dung lying like confetti on that road. No filter, all true – the true you.
Yet the reason He exposes us, is not that we may end up in shame. Oh no, no, no. He exposes us so that we may end up cleansed. Forgiven and cleansed.
So, what should be your response when Jesus removes the blindness? What do you do when you hear His voice in the preaching of His Word, telling you what your sins are? Confess. Confess your sins. Only when sins are confessed are forgiveness and cleansing given.
Instead of confessing the sins of others, first confess yours. What sin are you continually doing? Confess it, agree with God that it is a sin. Have the same attitude God has with that sin. Is it porn? Is it envy? Is it bitterness? Is it malice? Is it lying? Is it stealing? Is it rage? Is it adultery? Is it unforgiveness? Is it doubt? Confess it.
You might say, “I’ve confessed countless times. I really want to change, God knows I do, but it’s so hard!”
Jesus saves us from our burden in sin.
The good news is that Jesus not only opens our eyes to our sins, He is the balm that heals us from the burdening sickness that the sin gives to our soul. He restores our soul (Psalm 23:3). He carries our burden with us (Matthew 11:28-30, 1 Peter 5:7). He sanctifies us and keeps us from falling (Jude 1:24).
But how does He do it?
He does it by becoming flesh (John 1:14). He, being truly God is powerful enough to uphold all our sins and burdens without overwhelming Him, for He is omnipotent. Yet, He is also truly man. By being truly man, He could pay for our sins by dying and rising again from the dead. God cannot die, and if He cannot die, He cannot rise again from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:13-14). Also, by being truly man, He can rightly bear our burdens, for only a man can bear a man’s burdens experientially (Hebrews 4:15).
But what is the point of all these? Well, I’m glad you asked.
By becoming flesh, Jesus, the God-man, is personally involved in – ably and unfailingly – emancipating you from the burden of sin.
Yet furthermore, His becoming flesh is also a promise fulfilled. Think about it, who gives a promise that is very difficult to comprehend and accomplish? Muslims know this, as they wonder how can God become man? How can the all-powerful be limited in power? How can the all-knowing be limited in knowing? How can the all-present be confined to a specific time and place? The answer: God can, and He does, because He promised to do so, even if it is impossible to do.
Look at the promises He gives. It is He who promised. That means that it is He who will accomplish His promises. Hasn’t He made promises about you and your struggle with sin? Hasn’t He promised that “such were some of you? (1 Corinthians 6:11).” Hasn’t He promised that as a husband ought to love his wife, Christ loves the church and washes and sanctifies her (Ephesians 5:25-26).
I know, there are times you feel that it is you who failed to keep your end of the bargain with regards to sin. After all, you have made multiple commitments to never return to your sinful vomit. Yet here you are again, staring at the smelly puke of a porn video you just watched. When that happens, remember this:
He has promised to deliver you from the burden of your sin (Romans 6:6).
And remember, you are not responsible for His promises, He is, and He is mighty responsible. He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion on His day (Philippians 1:6).
So wake up each day, even after you have sinned the previous day, with gratitude in your heart. Confess your sin. Then thank Him for the forgiveness. Yet not only that, thank Him also for keeping His promise of sanctifying you, of not giving up on you.
Yet you might ask, “I thank God for His promises. I believe Him. I choose to believe Him. But, how about my family who have yet to turn to Christ? How about those who sinned against me but have yet to say sorry and reconcile? How about my close friend who has backslidden? Can He also save them?
Jesus saves us from the bastion of sin.
Our Jesus is mighty to save, not just one individual per family. He is mighty to save families, communities, and even nations. His kingdom will be filled with people from every tribe and tongue. His command is to go and disciple the nations. And so we can be certain that when God saved us, He not only meant to save us, but many people around us as well.
Why is this good news for you? Right now you may have a messy life. And that means you may have a messy family as well. A messy, loveless husband, or a messy, irrespective wife. You may also have siblings who have messy sins, sins that have hurt your parents and even you. You may also belong to a messy church, where people you followed and trusted have fallen away from the faith. Right now, the messiness is hurting you, discouraging you, making you feel like you want to give up.
In all the messiness, you may be wondering, can this bastion of a messiness be overtaken? Can something as strong as sin’s hold in the hearts of your loved ones be broken crumbled as the walls of Jericho were?
Well, that’s why Jesus came. His other name by the way, is Immanuel, which means God with us (Matthew 1:23).
Now the name Immanuel is often contextualized today to evoke sentimentalism. The kind of sentimentalism where you are all alone in the deep troubles, but Jesus is there with you, comforting you as you navigate the troubles you are in. That is true of course, but the name “God with us” is often used in times of battle and conquering (Joshua 1:9, Isaiah 7:14).
So what if it is used in battle and conquering? Well, we now are at war, not against flesh and blood, but against the flesh, the world, and the devil (Ephesians 2:1-3, Ephesians 6:12). Right now, our loved ones are falling away into sin, not because of some intellectual wall placed around them that disproves God’s existence. They wantonly sin because of the fleshly, worldly, and demonic wall that was erected, brick by brick, by their sinful desires.
That means, your father doesn’t attend church because of his sinful desires. Your mother gossips because of sinful desires. Your brother refuses to reconcile with you because of sinful desires. And the only way to bring down that wall? Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
So, are there any bastions of sin in your household? in your church? Are there sinful family members refusing to repent? Are there brothers and sisters in the church refusing church discipline and running away from God? God is with you.
So go to battle. Sound the horn of the Gospel. Shout the loud voices of a worshipful heart to God. Intercede daily as you march round and round that bastion of a wall of sin erected at the heart of your loved one. God is with you. You will surely see that wall tumbling down like that of Jericho.
Conclusion
So yes, we are in a world troubled with sin. Yet, the good news is: Jesus came, born of a woman, born under the law – to redeem us in this world troubled with sin. His redemption from sin is not just a passport to heaven when we die. His redemption from sin is a renewing, reequipping, and resending of an army under His command. This army is no longer under sin but under grace. It is an army marching forward, bring the Gospel that changed them to those who are still under sin’s blindness, burden, and bastion. Why? For Jesus came to save sinners from their sin (Matthew 1:21).
So rejoice for this tidings of comfort and joy.
Go on, fight sin, and win. God is with you.