“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

History is not meandering through time. All of history is marching toward a final destination. The Bible calls this final destination of all time the “Day of the LORD” or the “Day of Judgment.” On this day, everyone will face God from the throne of judgment.

The reason why Christians are saved from judgment and damnation is not because Christians are good and righteous. The reason why Christians will be saved from judgment and damnation is because Jesus is good and righteous.

On the Day of the LORD, I will stand before God if I were Christ because Christ stood before God as if he were me.

Theologians call this substitutionary atonement.

Atonement literally means a reparation or payment for sin. Sin is costly. This is the reason why when we pray the Lord’s Prayer we pray, “Forgive us our debts…” The debt is the payment that sin requires.

Substitutionary atonement means that Jesus pays the debt of sin on our behalf. On the cross, Jesus bore my sins and paid its debt by descending into hell. But that’s not the end of the story. Jesus rose again from the dead so that all who receive Jesus as Lord and Savior will rise with Christ as sons and daughters. That’s what the verse of the day means: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

When Christians stand before God on the Day of Judgment what God sees in Christians is sons and daughters because of all that Jesus did for us on the cross.

Jesus paid the debt of sin on our behalf. That is what he meant when he cried on the cross, “It is finished.” Jesus was saying, “Father, for this one, I’ve paid it all. It’s done. It is finished.”

Because of all that Jesus has done for us on the cross, we are now received into God’s kingdom as sons and daughters. Not because we are good and righteous but because Jesus is good and righteous.

This is the gospel. This is Good News.

Thank you Jesus! Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank you for giving me new life. Thank you Jesus!

“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD” (Psalm 27:14).

English translations of this verse make it sound like we are the source and the generators of strength and courage – we somehow generate strength and courage. The Hebrew makes it clear that this is an incorrect reading of the text. The Hebrew says, “Wait for the LORD and he will strengthen.” The subject of the verb “be strong” is Yahweh. It is the LORD who strengthens us.

Thank God for that because we will not make it through this season without the LORD’s strength.

There is an interesting correlation between when and how God strengthens with waiting. We typically understand waiting as a passive stance. But the text makes it clear that it is when we are waiting that the LORD strengthens. Waiting is active. Waiting is a willful choice.

What does the strength of the LORD look like?

• When everything in you is screaming for activity
• When everything in you is demanding that you do something
• When everything in you is begging you to find your own way through

“Wait for the LORD; he will strengthen so take heart and wait for the LORD.”

There are times when we are waiting that we live in the strength of the LORD, that we are courageous in the LORD.

We are approaching Thanksgiving and Christmas. These are seasons where we’ve always gotten together with friends and family. In fact, it’s almost impossible to imagine what the holidays are going to be like without friends and family.

We want to gather as we’ve always done for worship. It’s been months! I get it.

“Wait for the LORD; he will strengthen so take heart and wait for the LORD.”

This has been a long season of waiting. This season is getting tiresome and we are weary.

Yet, covid cases are spiking all over the country and in our community.

Friends, I am so proud of the Little Church and Lakewoodgrace. You have continued to wait in the LORD. You have continued to do your part to find new ways of worshiping online and serving while waiting on God. And it is in this season of waiting that the LORD is strengthening you.

• There is a vaccine right around the corner.
• Continue to do your part to protect the vulnerable in our community.
• Continue to wait until it is safe for us to meet face to face with friends and family.
• Continue to protect the health care providers and other essential workers.

“Wait for the LORD; he will strengthen so take heart and wait for the LORD.”

We’ve made it in the strength of the LORD thus far. The end is in sight. Don’t lose hope. Wait for the LORD and experience God’s strength.

Well done Little Church and Lakewoodgrace!!! We will make it in the strength of the LORD.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

This verse is in response to the Apostle Paul’s request that God remove his “thorn in the flesh.” No one knows what the “thorn in the flesh” refers to. I think this is for the best. Because each of us face our own “thorns in the flesh” at different seasons in our lives.

Whatever this “thorn in the flesh” refers to for the Apostle Paul, we know that it was painful enough, draining enough, exhausting enough for Paul to ask God to remove it from him three times. The three times represents a complete number. My guess is that it wasn’t just three times that the Apostle Paul prayed for this, but that it was a constant prayer that God remove the source of pain.

It was to Paul’s prayer that God responds, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

You see, what God promises is not that he would take the suffering and pain out of his people. What God promises is the addition of grace in the midst of pain and suffering so that we can suffer triumphantly. We can suffer triumphantly because suffering is temporary. We can suffer pain triumphantly because God’s grace provides us with the assurance that “All things will work together for the good for those who trust in Jesus” (Romans 8:28). In fact, God promises to work through our suffering and pain to make us stronger.

The Apostle Paul responds to God’s affirmation of grace by saying, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:8).

God’s grace is infinitely greater than any suffering or pain we may endure.

So, take heart, my friends. In God’s kingdom suffering and pain never get the last word. God’s grace is more than sufficient. God’s grace abounds!