Jesus fixes all our imperfections
I love to make things with wood and other materials. The only problem is that I am not perfect at this and often make mistakes. I miss cut, or I break something, and then I have to figure out how to make it right. I have to figure it out myself: no one else can do that for me.
Our lives are full of mistakes: not that we are always doing or saying the wrong things, it is just our nature that we are not perfect, and as a result wrong things take place. Sometimes we can make corrections, apologizing to someone we hurt, making monetary corrections when possible, but sometimes a correction cannot be made, and this is especially true with God.
It is just the nature of our being that we do or say the wrong things: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We have no control over this, just as we had no control over how our bodies were formed: we have two arms, two legs, two eyes: this is just our nature. And the condition of sin is a part of our very nature. But unlike my needing to fix my woodworking errors myself, we can do nothing ourselves about fixing our nature of sin. Only God can do something about that, and God’s response to our sin is “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). This response gives us no joy or happiness; this is terrible news. But God goes on, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Notice that this says eternal life is a “gift” from God; we do not deserve this, nor can we do anything to earn it; it is a gift, neither earned nor deserved. God forgives our sins purely out of His great love for us his creation. He did this by sending His own Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sin by dying on the cross. Jesus took every sin we have ever committed upon his body and died for them, with the result that there is no penalty for our sins left for us to pay. This is God’s wonderful gift He has given us, forgiveness of sins and life everlasting with Him in His eternal kingdom. It is a gift, neither earned nor deserved, but received simply by believing this and trusting in Jesus’ death on the cross to pay the penalty for sin that we deserve.
No one else can fix my woodworking mistakes for me, but Jesus has fixed our problem of sin for us, absolutely free of any condition on our part. All we are called to do is to believe this and put all our trust in Jesus and him alone for the assurance that in Him our sins are forgiven and eternal life with God is ours.
Fixing my mistakes in my crafts gives me joy and satisfaction, and gives me the dedication to continue the effort of making something nice that pleases me. Knowing that God has forgiven our sins in Jesus Christ should give us joy and happiness, with the result that we are now committed to living our lives more in alignment with God’s will for us. Even though we will continue to make mistakes and errors, we are assured that God has forgiven those mistakes and errors, and strengthens us with the assurance that we are loved by Him, and that His will for us is that He wants us to be with Him forever in his kingdom.
There is great joy and satisfaction is finishing a woodworking project. There is even greater joy and satisfaction in knowing my future is secure: when I die and leave this world I know where I am going, and I am looking forward to an eternity with God in his kingdom. And it would give me great joy if everyone reading this also had this certainty of knowing what their future with God held for them.