Not too long ago, Lisa had a great idea about how to decorate our bedroom. Our bedroom walls are tan, but she wanted to create something called an “accent wall”. She wanted me to put navy blue vertical stripes that got larger in size in the middle on the accent wall. Now, this wall is the one seen by everyone who walks into our living room, so it needed to be well done. Well, this project involved a few things that alone, make me uneasy:
1. Math
2. A tall ladder
3. A level
4. Painter’s tape
5. Dark paint on light carpet
We had our two kids at home with us, so we didn’t want to move our bedroom furniture out into the living room, so we moved the bed out of the way (it was the wall behind the bed, of course!) and scooted everything else out of the way inside the room. Once we got started, it seemed like our bedroom had shrunk in size (except for the wall I was painting!) We kept bumping into things – we knew that we were going to wind up with “deep navy” all over the floor.
Of course we didn’t stop with the wall. Once the painting project was completed (due to a miracle from Almighty God!), we (meaning Lisa) decided that the bedroom furniture needed to be rearranged. Now, my wife is one of the most intelligent people I know, but I discovered 2 things that night:
1. She is a VISUAL person
2. Our furniture is made of lead that is encased in wood
We had to lift furniture OVER furniture to move it into place, then move it back over other furniture to put it in the PERFECT SPOT – we didn’t clear the room. We just rearranged our pile of furniture from one corner to another.
It took us much longer because we didn’t approach the project properly. If you notice on all of the “Trading Spaces” shows, the first thing EVERY TEAM DOES is clear the room. Why? Because it exposes the space for what it really is and allows the redesign to happen more smoothly and quickly. In other words, you get the junk out so you can put the good stuff in. The same concept is true for us spiritually.
Spiritually, clearing the room is all about forgiveness.
So, let’s take a look at 5 aspects of forgiveness tonight…
First, forgiveness is needed.
You and I were created to love God and take on His character. But, since we have messed up along the way, we need to allow Him to “clear the room” in our lives. This isn’t to say that we’re all bad, but before change can happen, there has to be room to do the work.
The Bible is very clear about our inability to “clear the room” on our own.
Paper illustration: See this piece of paper (HOLD UP A BLANK SHEET) – this is our goal, God’s standard – perfection. I’ll tape it to the podium so you can see it.
Let’s take another piece of paper to represent our life. The original intention was for it to be clean.
But, what happens when we mess up? We’ll use the ten commandments as our moral base.
Let’s say you lie to your parents about making a mess of your room. Let’s write LIE on the paper.
What about taking a pen from work because it fits your hand perfectly. Let’s write STEAL on the paper.
OK, what about the time your neighbor got a Lexus – you wanted one so bad that it drove you crazy. Let’s write COVET on the paper.
So, what does your life look like now? How does it compare to the standard?
You know, sometimes we try to hide our sin, so let’s fold up the sin parts (now remember, we have only 3 sins). How does it compare to the standard?
What about erasing the sin? What about pushing it aside – does that fix it?
No, we’re stilled marred by sin.
Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross gives us a clean slate from our sin, a blank page, and we cannot expect real life change to happen when we are still trying to control our lives. We have to come clean before God and acknowledge that His sacrifices were made to save us. It is up to us to accept that – we have to allow ourselves to be made right with God – to allow our “spiritual rooms” to be cleaned.
See, this isn’t just about bad taste, but eternal survival. There are so many of us that try to earn salvation on our own, but we’re never going to cut it. So, we sacrifice salvation for “good enough” and hope for the best. It doesn’t work that way! Why? How good is good enough?
Luke 18:18-23 “A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone. You know the commandments: ’Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’ "All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.”
Notice the commands Jesus rattled off to the ruler:
1. Do not commit adultery
2. Do not murder
3. Do not steal
4. Do not give false testimony
5. Honor your father and mother
Most of us probably would score pretty high, but did you notice anything odd about Jesus’ list of commandments? HE ONLY MENTIONED FIVE!! Think about that conversation in its historical context – a Jewish ruler asking a Jewish rabbi how to inherit eternal life. Jesus said it plainly – “you know the commandments”, but he failed to mention the other five – the first of which this guy struggled with the most…
“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20
Yikes – Jesus knew exactly what was holding this guy up. Ten big commandments and this poor guy couldn’t get past number 1.
How true is that for us? I can say on great authority that ALL OF US have put other things before God, so that blows the whole idea of us being good enough on our own.
Max Lucado said “If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior.”
So, we need forgiveness – the kind of forgiveness that cannot come from ourselves. In other words, we need to recognize the need to clear the room.
Here’s the good news – we all need forgiveness and forgiveness is freely given.
Unfortunately, there are so many people that try and create a “pre-faith checklist” because they get hung up on what they believe are “have to’s” about coming to Christ. People think that they’ve got to give up this or that, or stop living with this person, or give so much money to the poor before they can accept forgiveness through a relationship with Jesus.
That’s ridiculous! That’s like thinking you need to get cleaned up before you take a bath. The truth is, Jesus wants you to recognize your need for Him and accept the forgiveness that He freely gives.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Now, once you experience the grace of God through salvation, the Holy Spirit will begin working in you as you develop Christ’s character. He’s going to lead you and guide you, but the first step is simply about accepting a gift right where you are in your circumstances.
Not only is forgiveness freely given, it is complete.
My favorite theologian is a guy named Brennan Manning, author of The Ragamuffin Gospel. In that book he tells the story of a woman who visited her pastor and told him that when she prays, she sees Jesus in a vision.
“He appears to me as real as you are standing here right now,” said the woman. “And he speaks to me. He tells me that He loves me and wants to be with me. Do you think I’m crazy?”
“Not at all,” replied the pastor. “But to make sure it is really Jesus who is visiting you, I want you to ask Him a question when He appears to you again. Ask Him to tell you the sins that I confessed to Him recently. Then, come back and tell me what He said.”
A few days later the woman returned.
“Did you have another vision of Jesus?” the pastor inquired of her.
“Yes I did,” she replied
“And did you ask Him to tell you the sins that I confessed to Him?”
“Yes I did,” the woman answered.
“And what did He tell you?” asked the pastor expectantly.
“He said… ‘I forgot.’”
Jesus completely forgives and forgets our sins when we confess them to Him. Scripture assures us of this:
1 John 1:6-9 “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
What an incredible promise – forgiveness and purity! But, it requires action from us – “if we confess”. Confession comes from a word (omologi,), which literally means “to call it the same thing”. In other words, when we sin, we don’t need to make excuses, or blame somebody else, or try to wiggle out of it.
Confession is us saying to God, “God, this was sin. You call it sin; I call it sin, and that’s all there is to it. Please forgive me.”
Not only is forgiveness complete, it is also available.
Jesus said to His disciples in John 16:10 “Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more.”
Ephesians 3:8 “Just think! Though I did nothing to deserve it, and though I am the least deserving Christian there is, I was chosen for this special joy of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ.”
Did you catch what Paul said? He was talking about the forgiveness and other “endless treasures” available to all people through Christ.
Are you here tonight and just need to experience forgiveness? Have you ever felt like you just wanted to start over? Well, spiritually you can. You and I were created to be in a relationship with God. That is only possible through a relationship with His Son Jesus Christ.
Do you want to live life as it was meant to be lived? Forgiveness is something we all need, it is freely given, complete, and available right now. All you have to do is receive this gift. Without it, you don’t have a life worth anything. How do I know this?
1 John 5:11-12 “…God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
Bottom line: with Christ you have life, without Him, you don’t. I’m sorry if you don’t agree, but there is no compromise, no middle ground. As we take the next couple of weeks and explore what it means to trade spaces, we’ll discover that it is a process to develop Christ’s character.
But, it all begins by clearing the room.
Are you ready to accept God’s forgiveness tonight? He wants you to – He has made it freely available. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’re in the middle of. We all need forgiveness and you can receive it right now.
In the quietness of the moment, ask God to forgive you. Thank Him for sending His Son to trade spaces with you on the cross as He took your punishment. Ask Jesus to come into your life and lead you to be more like Him.
No matter when you have accepted God’s gift of forgiveness through Christ, whether it was 30 years ago or 30 seconds ago, it is a gift worth remembering.
In a moment, we’re going to remember Christ’s sacrifice in trading spaces with us through communion. There is nothing significant about the elements – they don’t become anything more than just symbols of sacrifice and forgiveness.
To truly remember Christ’s sacrifice and forgiveness, you need to have experienced it. Because of that, communion is reserved for those who have a relationship with Jesus. If you are still seeking God, we ask that you observe as those of us who know Him remember the sacrifice of His Son.
As the music plays, I invite you to come to the front, take the bread and the cup and return to your seat. Then I’ll lead us in this time of remembrance.
(ALLOW TIME)
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
PRAYER
