Have you ever been out shopping and had to take a minute? You look around and just start shaking your head at how lost so many seem to be. It could be apparent in how someone is dressed or the vocabulary they choose to use, but lost is lost. Anyone else? Now, I’m not one to talk when it comes to fashion, but I do know that I personally can’t bring myself to go anywhere in yoga pants or pajamas, and one of my grandmothers believed that you were naked if you left the house without your earrings. My kiddos start asking where we’re going when they see me wearing jeans, so I really do have a minimum standard.
Fashion aside, we can see lost people at every turn. Heavy traffic, business deals gone sideways, and simple holiday shopping reveals the depravity of mankind. As I drive, as I shop, as I write up contracts for our business – even as I walk through our neighborhood – I feel a heaviness. There are so many who are lost, there are so many who don’t care that they are lost, and so many who mock those who are walking in the light.
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit! Psalm 32:1-2 NASB
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.” Romans 4:7-8 NASB
Then I’m slapped out of the funk by reading Psalm 32. This led me to read the cross-reference in Romans 4. As I mulled these two passages over, I connected them to Psalm 103 – Man, I never finished my goal of memorizing Psalm 103:1-12. That realization led me to check my skills at reciting Psalm 91 – Ugh – that’s super choppy! Sorry, but this is how my brain works. All of these are connected, I promise; just bear with me for a few.
Our third grader is struggling through world geography. Struggling because I don’t do east and west or north and south. Give me landmarks or an address that I can put in my phone for directions. Don’t tell me to go north in a town that has its highest elevation being a speed bump and there’s houses and buildings blocking the view at every turn. Tell me to take a left or right, but don’t tell me east or west.
We’ve learned a bit on latitude and longitude, the Prime Meridian and the Equator – yes, I’m learning right there with her. I’m so glad that we have a globe for this portion of her education because I learn so much better if I have a visual. And I was so thrilled when I was able to give her a Biblical lesson to reinforce it all.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12 NASB
If you start walking east and you keep walking east, there will never be a point in which you start walking west. I love how God knew some of us would need this visual. He didn’t say north or south because they meet. If you start walking south, you’ll eventually get to a point in which you start walking north. So, God used east and west. But what hit me was that sin – all sin – was dealt with at the cross. Jesus took the sins of the entire world, for all existence, to the cross (I John 2:2). The sins of Adolf Hitler were taken to the cross. If Hitler is in Hell, it’s not because of sin, but rather a rejection of Jesus.
Every person who is walking around Wal-Mart in their grubby pajamas who smell like an ashtray and look worse because of wear – the ones who are cussing at their kiddos and are the last people you would expect to see in Heaven – they are just as forgiven as every faithful churchgoer. Please keep reading – I think you’ll want to hear the rest.
On this side of the cross, every person who has ever been – and who will ever be – is starting out with a greater advantage then those who came before the cross. This is what Psalm 32 points to. Sin separated mankind from God, but where is sin now? This is Psalm 103. We don’t have to find the perfect sacrifice to bring to the priest who is of the right lineage who will then take our offering and present it to God in the right way and at the right time (y’all, it was a lot – and there were different sacrifices for different types of sins!). Because of Jesus, all we have to do is cry out to our Father. All we have to do is open the door that He’s knocking on and invite Him in. All we have to do is believe and accept His gift of salvation.
We have to choose. We have to believe. We may not have sin as a barrier between us, but we still have to choose to believe that He is the Son of God and accept His sacrifice. Even though it’s God’s will – it’s His desire – for all to be saved, there will be a lot of people who will spend an eternity in Hell, not because of sin but because they rejected God’s Son.
When King David wrote Psalm 32, he was writing that we are to be envied. Not just Christians! All who are on this side of the cross are fortunate and well-off. It’s not only the Jews who are able to have relationship with God, but all non-Jews as well. How fortunate, blessed, and well-off we are! And that’s the point when my mind went to thoughts of Psalm 91.
Universalism is the belief that all humankind will eventually be saved. If I have not been clear, I do not believe all people will be saved. It’s not true according to God’s Word – and none of the pastors I follow believe that either. Not all will be saved. Scripture is abundantly clear that Jesus is the only way to the Father (John 14:6), that we simply have to believe that Jesus is Lord (Acts 16:31), and that salvation is not a matter of works – it is a gift of grace that we receive by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). But there are people who will reject Him. There are people who will point out their own good deeds and find that they fall extremely short on what is required.
But for those who accept Him, they will be shown His salvation (Psalm 91:16). The thief on the cross didn’t get the chance to prove his loyalty in good deeds or changed ways – but scripture tells us that he’s in Heaven because He believed. But having time on this earth as a saved child of the living God, I have the privilege of making God my refuge, my hiding place, and walking where He directs me to walk.
For me, being saved means being set apart. I’m not like the rest of the world. Scripture even tells us that believers are not of this world (John 17:14). The world may decide that they can represent perfectly fine by throwing hands and talking trash in traffic – but I’m not of this world. The world may see nothing wrong with presenting themselves as grungy and gritty when grocery shopping – I may not be dressed for a wedding, but I am going to take some pride in my appearance – I want the lost to want to be found. The world may find it normal to dehumanize and berate children (they already have for the unborn children in the womb) – but I’m going to teach my children through my words and actions how children of the King are supposed to act.
We are so very blessed to be on this side of the cross! We are so very blessed to have the opportunity to become His kiddos (John 1:12). This is more than reason enough to be thankful. We are blessed! And I pray, if you haven’t already, that you’ll answer the door that God is knocking on. Believe in Him, trust Him, allow Him to come in and show you His salvation.