Transcript
Well, I think everybody hits this wall at some point in their Christian life. If you don’t, you’re just not paying attention. You hit the wall, saying, “Why do I still struggle so? You would think, with the power of God’s grace, I would’ve licked this Christian life by now.” Well, I think the reason we think that is pretty clear. It’s because we seriously underestimate the drama, the power, the depth of sin, how deep it is inside of us, how its fingers go to every aspect of our being, how much that sin is in our thoughts and in our desires, in our deepest unspoken longings, in the way we view ourselves, in the way that we view others, in the way that we want from God.
And so, God’s forgiveness and His acceptance is immediate. It’s a lifelong process of weeding out all the artifacts of iniquity that still remain in me. The long process of sanctification, of personal transformation is an argument for the power and the depth of sin in everyone of my hearts. I kind of think I should’ve been completed a long time ago, but because I don’t think I was that great of a sinner.
It’s humbling to know how long God must work on me in a variety of situations, in a variety of locations, day after day, moment after moment, to get at all of the roots of sin that still live inside of me. Praise Him for His patience. Praise Him for His faithfulness. Praise Him that He would continue to exercise that power. No, we’re not done yet because what God is working on is huge, but we will be.
And there will be a day when we will be invited to a funeral that all of us will be happy to go to (maybe the first funeral we’re happy to go to). It will be the funeral of sin and death because sin and death will die. And we will live forever with a burden lifted, the struggle over, with our Redeemer and like our Redeemer, forever and ever and ever. Until that day, yeah, it’s right, we’re still in a workroom and the hammers and saws and the screwdrivers redemption are on us everyday because the work still needs to be done.
