In the past weeks we have seen how Jesus brings success in every area of life when He is the central focus. Today we will be studying in greater detail exactly how to do this, because there is still some confusion about it. Not reducing Jesus to a formula or a set of rules, not at all, but the scriptures are quite detailed in describing how Jesus is to be applied to our lives – and the very reason such things are described is for our benefit, because God loves us and He actually wants us to receive His provision for us.

If you have been needing the provision of Jesus in a specific area of your life, this study is going to benefit you today.

The first step in a study such as this one today, is to recognize that the world as it is right now, is in chaos. The world is not the way that God originally designed it to be. Today the world has sickness, poverty, death, fear, selfishness and every evil thing; when God designed the world, it had none of those things. In Genesis chapter one, God saw everything that He had made, and it was good. A lot of times we have bad experiences with bad people and we transfer those same characteristics into our own imagination of God, but in reality God is good all the time. We like to say that, but many times we do not truly believe it in our spirit. Our perfect and good God, saw all that He had made, and it was all good.

So what happened? Of course we know that Adam and Eve, both chose themselves over God and sin and death and all the bad things came in. The Hebrew root word for sin is חָטָא which means to miss the mark and fall short of God’s glory. Any thing that is less than God’s divine perfection fits this category. So as we take a step back and start seeing the world with this broad definition of sin, we start to see that God’s definition of sin is far greater than merely the sinful acts that we commit. Fear is a sin, worry is a sin, doubt and unbelief are sins. Sickness and disease are sins also because they miss the mark of God’s perfect glory.

Now in John 1:29, we see a very bold statement made regarding Jesus:

“The next day John sees Jesus coming to him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.”

This is an amazing statement, if received. I say “if received” because there are many people who simply do not receive this statement. Jude 1:3 says that we must earnestly contend for the faith. Not just contend, but earnestly contend, and many times we do not do this. Often-times we start looking for reasons to justify doubt when the situation starts to seem desperate, or it looks like God is not going to come through. I can’t even count how many times I had heard 2^nd Corinthians 12 misused to justify submitting to almost every attack that comes along. And I have an entire teaching on the truth of God’s healing. And indeed there are many people who are still living with sin. The logical and even quite understandable question that many have even inside the church body is this:

“If Jesus truly takes away my sin, why is it so prevalent in my life still?”

 

If you are like most people, you have probably wondered this question yourself, and it is a question that has been a stumbling-block for many, and I’m going to give you the answer right-up front in a nutshell, and then we are going to look at it in-depth in scripture and see how Jesus is our answer in this area:

Recall that after Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sin entered the world. This is the way it operated… before sin could enter, there had to be an abdication of authority. Satan had no power over either of them or any part of the earth until they willfully chose to give it. The great tragedy is that all they had to do was command the serpent and Satan himself to leave and he would have had to obey. However they did not do this, and instead they willingly abdicated their authority to Satan as a result of their disobedience.

Now sin operates the very same way in the world today. The only way Satan has any effectual power in our lives today is because there are areas of our life where we are disobedient to God or outside of His will. Even if you think you are a good person, it is not enough because we are all sinners. That is our nature… we are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. This is the one problem that must be solved. The sin of Adam and Eve has made us all sinners and allowed Satan to bring disease, destruction and death upon the whole world.

There are some today who say “Well, it’s no big deal, God is merciful and forgiving.”, and yes I agree that God is merciful and forgiving, within the context of redemption, but He must also condemn sin or else there is no justice and He would not be perfect and just. We must see the complete picture of God, including His justice and holiness.

This presents the problem. Because of the place of sin (noun) that we are in, we have no righteousness of ourselves. Regardless of how much good we do, how many laws we keep or how long we fast, we can never earn even the smallest amount of favor with God. So if God judges us according to our own righteousness, we are doomed and finished. We must be punished and condemned, because we by our very nature miss the mark and fall short of God’s perfect glory. This fact gives Satan many inroads by default into people’s lives and into the world at large. But we have the verse from John 1:29, and our question about it still remains.

Turn with me now to Romans 6, and let’s read verses 3 through 11:

“Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that from now on we should not serve sin.

For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more; death has no more dominion over him.

For in that he died, he died to sin once: but in that he lives, he lives to God.

Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Many people have heard these verses before but fail to apply them to their lives. These verses are speaking of the remarkable work of Christ Jesus for us through His sacrifice on the cross and our reality in Him today. It’s worth noting here that every single instance of the word “sin” in these verses is the Greek word ἁμαρτία which is a noun, speaking of the place of sin which we were all in before Jesus.

Now take a look at verse 11… it says to Likewise reckon yourself dead indeed to sin through Christ Jesus our Lord.

The previous two verses make it clear that the subject which we are to likewise reckon ourselves dead to sin with, is Jesus Himself. When He died, we died with Him, and when He was raised, so too were we raised with Him, in newness of life it says in verse 4. However there is more to it than that. The word “Likewise” or “Even so” as some translations put it, means in the same manner as. In this particular context, it means that we are to reckon ourselves dead to sin in the same manner that Jesus Himself died to sin. If we do not understand this, His death will be largely meaningless and unfruitful in our lives.

So then how did He die? First we see right in the previous verse that He died once. He does not need to die repeatedly. He died one single time for all. The work was a complete and finished work. Never to be repeated.

Furthermore, in 2^nd Corinthians 5:21, we read this:

“For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Jesus did not die to the action of sin, as a verb, He died to the place of sin as a noun. He died to the imputation, punishment and condemnation of sin. And not His own, but ours. He became a scourge of our sins so that we would become His righteousness… that’s His perfect divine righteousness in Him!

Now go back to Romans 6:11.

That word reckon used in verse 11 is the Greek word λογίζομαι, which is an accounting term. This word deals only in reality, not dreams, pretend or future uncertainties. You can not reckon something that is only in the future, nor can you reckon something that is not yet complete. You can only reckon something that is already done and completely finished and set.

In other words, this verse is saying count it as done! Your sin debt is completely paid by Jesus Christ, you have His righteousness upon you.

This is the clarity which Christ brings to the chaos of the world, but many believers do not apply this to their lives. The reality is that the devil’s hands are tied already – without any sin, he has no legal right to execute any claim on a divinely righteous being, and in Christ you are divinely righteous.

If this is so, then why are so many believers still suffering? Because they don’t truly believe the simple message of John 1:29. That Jesus has taken away their sin. They are still trying to accomplish it themselves – and as it is spelled out so plainly in Galatians 3:10:

“For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”

and again in Galatians 5:4:

“Christ is become of no effect to you, whoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from grace.”

The law places you under the curse. It is Christ who removes the curse having been made a curse for us. It is He who brings clarity to the chaos of the world and it is through Him that all blessings are obtained.

Whatever your problem is today, whatever stronghold or sickness or disease, whatever fear or worry, see it placed on Jesus. Look upon Him and live; not yourself or your own efforts or your own understanding. Let the clarity of the finished work of Christ set you free from the bondage of the curse.

Recognize the truth that He has borne every curse in your place and the enemy has no right to claim any area of your life, spirit, mind or body. Romans 5:17 says that we reign in life by Jesus Christ as we receive abundance of Grace and the free gift of His righteousness. This is the clarity of Christ… translating everything in your life through the truth of what He has done.