Just As I Am
What’s the best news about the good news?
I don’t know about you, but for a long time I thought I had to have it all together BEFORE I came into the presence of God. For some of us, this is the reason we have a hard time showing up at church. For others, it’s the reason we don’t pray. And for so many, it’s the reason we have a hard time believing that God really is a loving God.
Imagine a mother telling her child, if you ever fall down and scrape up your knees on the sidewalk, make sure you dry up your tears, clean up the blood, if you need stitches then you need to do that yourself, and if you need a bandaid then you need to take care of that by yourself, too. Then, once you’re all cleaned up you can come to me. Can you even imagine a conversation like that? What mother, what father, would ever say anything like that to a child?
But for some reason we think God, our Father in Heaven, is like that.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBaNG16Dpas[/embedyt]Just As I Am
Somewhere along the way we believed the lie that we had to have it all together before we come to God. That God couldn’t be in the presence of sin. So before we even thought about approaching God we had better get ourselves together, stop sinning, start living right, and then… maybe, just maybe we could come to God.
Can I tell you the best news about the good news? You can come to God right now, just as you are!
Hebrews 4.16 says this,
“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”
If you ask me, this is the best news about the good news. The good news, the gospel, is often explained as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. And this is good news! Jesus cam from heaven heaven to earth and he dwelled among us. He knows what it’s like to be human. He died on the cross for us as the sacrificial lamb of God, he was buried in a borrowed tomb, then on the third day, he rose again.
More Good News
But there’s more good news! After he rose again, he walked the planet for another 40 days. He was seen by more than 500 people. Then his closest friends and followers watched as he ascended to Heaven! Jesus, this man from Nazareth who was the Son of Man, fully human, and the Son of God, fully Divine, is now seated at the right hand of God! And because of Jesus… we can boldly approach the throne of our gracious God! We are welcome in the presence of God! We are invited into the Divine Community, into relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.
And we don’t have to have it all together before we enter his presence in prayer. We don’t have to have it all figured out before we worship with God’s people in church. Our God is a gracious God. We serve a great God with a great name and a kind Heart. He is a God of compassion and love. And He welcomes us into his presence. In fact, it’s in his presence where our sins are forgiven, our wounds are healed, and we experience his grace and mercy in our time of need!
There’s an old song that says it like this…
Just as I am! Thou wilt receive.
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve.
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!”
– Just as I Am, by Charlotte Elliott, 1834
You Are Welcome
If you ask me, this is the best news about the good news. When you are at your worst, when your knees are bloody from falling down, when your life is broken and shattered by sin, your Father is there. Just like the prodigal son, he’s not waiting to reject you or condemn you. No, it’s quite the opposite. He’s waiting in love to welcome you into his presence, to put a robe around you, heal your wounds, forgive your sin, and throw you a party!
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