Condemnation or Acquittal -- Which Will You Choose?

I love this thought provoking illustration showing light and darkness, good and bad within us. Our quality of life is based on what choices we make. Why did God give us free choice?

God created a perfect world.
It was Adam who changed the course of all humanity when he decided to disobey God. This was God’s response:

To Adam, God said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate the fruit when I told you not to, I have placed a curse upon the soil. All your life you will struggle to extract a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, and you shall eat its grasses. All your life you will sweat to master it, until your dying day. Then you will return to the ground from which you came. For you were made from the ground and to the ground you will return.” Genesis 3:19

Adam’s one sin (bad decision) brought the penalty of death to many, while Christ freely takes away many sins and gives glorious life instead. Romans 5:16

The consequence of Adam’s sin was condemnation. The dictionary defines the word condemnation: “to make a judicial pronouncement stating what punishment has been imposed on a person found guilty of a crime.” In other words, when Adam brought sin into the world — judgment and condemnation were then followed by a death sentence. Why? Because God could not allow man’s rebellion to go unpunished.

Hebrews 9:27: Everyone has to die once, then face the consequences…..

Not only our actions will be judged — our words condemn us as well

It’s your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you.

There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation.” I tell you that men will have to give an account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken." Matthew 12:36-37

If we know that our words condemn us, then we have to be a little curious about what words are required to receive acquittal. Romans 10:8 gives us the answer:

“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Isn’t that a great relief!

Christ’s death was also a one-time event, but it was a sacrifice that took care of sins forever. And so, when he next appears, the outcome for those eager to greet him is, precisely, salvation.

The Bible says this about God:
Psalms 103:10-12: “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” How so?

Acts 4:12: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” What name? Jesus Christ, the gift of God.

If death got the upper hand through one man’s wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?

It’s not about being good enough for God – no-one will ever be that good. It’s about accepting His love for us even though we don’t deserve it. Have you placed your hope in Jesus? Condemnation or acquittal, which will you choose?

Please share this message with those you love and bring light to someone else’s world!
2015 Elaine Costin – www.CapturingSunrise.com/blog