Many Christians today observe a holy day on the Christian calendar, a day called Ash Wednesday. You may even see some wandering around with a big cross of ashes on their forehead. Sure, it's likely to get a few strange looks, but it also presents the opportunity to teach a little bit about our faith.
To help explain Ash Wednesday, it's necessary to explain a little bit about the overall season of Lent. Lent is a time where we reflect on the sin that separates us from God, and which presents our need for God to send a Savior. As Christians, we believe that God has taken care of the sin that separates us from Him through Jesus, who bore our sin on the cross and then rose victorious to give us a new, sinless life.
In a sense, God has taken our sin and burned it up in the fire of His wrath and justice. That's what Jesus endured as He gave up His life on the cross. Our sin has been reduced to ashes. And so, we wear crosses of ash upon our foreheads to remember what God has done in taking our sin away, as well as how God accomplished that, which is the cross of our Lord Jesus.
So God has done that for us. As His people who have had their sin removed, and who have been given new life in Jesus, we then strive to live according to that new life. That puts us in a position where we face a battle. We have our new life in Jesus right now. The problem is, we also still inhabit this life and body, where sin exists. Our sin that we battle against will seem to come out on top from time to time, and at other times, it may seem like the new life in Jesus wins the victory. Regardless, what we discover is the constant need to return to God as we battle against that sin.
That's why Ash Wednesday, and in fact, all of Lent, is about repentance. We recognize and believe in what God has done for us in Jesus. We live in that hope and reality. And yet, while we still inhabit this world and body of sin, we face a struggle. We will need to turn our back on that sin and look again to God for our help, our hope, and our forgiveness. And what we find there is what the prophet Joel spoke about so many years ago.
"Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster." (Joel 2:13) The God that we return to is one that has already poured out abundant grace to us. We are His. He has reduced our sin to ashes. He has given us new life. He calls for us to come back to Him, the one who knows what our true life looks like. And He does that because He is a gracious God to us.
To help explain Ash Wednesday, it's necessary to explain a little bit about the overall season of Lent. Lent is a time where we reflect on the sin that separates us from God, and which presents our need for God to send a Savior. As Christians, we believe that God has taken care of the sin that separates us from Him through Jesus, who bore our sin on the cross and then rose victorious to give us a new, sinless life.
In a sense, God has taken our sin and burned it up in the fire of His wrath and justice. That's what Jesus endured as He gave up His life on the cross. Our sin has been reduced to ashes. And so, we wear crosses of ash upon our foreheads to remember what God has done in taking our sin away, as well as how God accomplished that, which is the cross of our Lord Jesus.
So God has done that for us. As His people who have had their sin removed, and who have been given new life in Jesus, we then strive to live according to that new life. That puts us in a position where we face a battle. We have our new life in Jesus right now. The problem is, we also still inhabit this life and body, where sin exists. Our sin that we battle against will seem to come out on top from time to time, and at other times, it may seem like the new life in Jesus wins the victory. Regardless, what we discover is the constant need to return to God as we battle against that sin.
That's why Ash Wednesday, and in fact, all of Lent, is about repentance. We recognize and believe in what God has done for us in Jesus. We live in that hope and reality. And yet, while we still inhabit this world and body of sin, we face a struggle. We will need to turn our back on that sin and look again to God for our help, our hope, and our forgiveness. And what we find there is what the prophet Joel spoke about so many years ago.
"Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster." (Joel 2:13) The God that we return to is one that has already poured out abundant grace to us. We are His. He has reduced our sin to ashes. He has given us new life. He calls for us to come back to Him, the one who knows what our true life looks like. And He does that because He is a gracious God to us.
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