Day 26

It doesn’t matter how attractive the veneer: There is no one righteous; not even one.

‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’ (2 Corinthians 5:21)

When we understand why we were created, the purpose of the Gospel becomes logical. We were created in the image of God. That means, we were created to be a physical and visible expression of the moral character of God. To look at human beings was to see what God is like! Then came the Fall whereby we became separated from God. The Gospel therefore is designed to restore human beings to what we were created for in the first place. Hence the evidence of being a true disciple, said Jesus, is that we love (John 13:35). Why? Because God is love, and we will express what God is like – not in perfection, for we remain fallen, but glimpses of God are seen in His redeemed people.

The means to this is Christ. Jesus, who was sinless, is the perfect expression of His Father’s character. But He became as human as we are that we might become as righteous as He is. This is the great exchange of the Gospel, and the first priority of salvation. The Gospel, in the first instance, is about reconciliation to God in order that His Holy Spirit be implanted within us, so that we might express what He is like in our own lives, relationships and behaviour.

Lord, I’m grateful for Your gift of reconciliation.