Three Days - Pt 2

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2 ESV).

The second gift to highlight in the birth of Christ is the twofold truth that Christ came to destroy our sinning and to forgive our sins is this. We make progress in overcoming our sin when we have hope that our failures will be forgiven. If you don’t have hope that God will forgive your failures, when you start fighting sin, you give up. Many of you may be thinking about making some New Year’s resolutions. Cahnges in our lives in the New Year ahead are usually good things. Often we take a personal inventory and recognize some habits or patterns of life that need to be changed. You want some new patterns of eating. It may be new patterns for entertainment, giving, new patterns of relationships. It could involve a change of pattern in our devotional an prayer life. For many of us, particularly as we age, we desire to form new patterns of sleep and exercise. Most of these are rooted in something we are struggling with, wondering whether it’s any use. Well, here’s your second Christmas present: Christ not only came to destroy the works of the devil — our sinning — he also came to be an advocate for us because of experiences of failure in our fight. So, let the truth found in our reading today encourage you that past failure will not have the last word in your life. Let that truth give you the hope to fight. I would also encourage you that you take care not to turn the grace of God into license for sin. We cannot think that our failures don’t matter. We cannot surrender the need to persevere against our sinful nature. The old Native American proverb is true. There are two wolves that live within us. One is good and pure; the other is wicked and evil. The one who will triumphs is the one we feed the most. Feed the good and pure in your life. What God is saying to you is this: Let Christ’s covering of your failure give hope to fight. “I write this to you that you might not sin, but if you sin you have an advocate, Jesus Christ.” While we often think of what we will give to Jesus at Christmas, be encouraged in what He has already given to us. Unwrap that present today!