We all know that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you know you’ve sinned. That gnawing ache that accompanies wrongdoing. Peter had to be feeling this sickening insecurity when he saw Jesus for the first time after having denied and abandoned him. He felt joy of course, his friend had risen from the dead, but no doubt it was mingled with fear and shame. Would Jesus take him back? How could he approach the Saviour he betrayed?
The power of guilt and condemnation can be crippling, and sometimes we can be tempted to try and make up for our sin by doing “good things” or punishing ourselves.
When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, their first response was to hide from God. Most of us have taken forbidden fruit and we know it. We try to escape from God’s judgement, and in doing so we run from the grace that is so freely offered to us.
Boldly I Approach (The Art Of Celebration) was born out of a season of self-condemnation for sin. As believers we sometimes find ourselves so weighed down by our own sin, we find it nearly impossible to approach the throne of God. Even after repentance, the wounds of sin can linger and keep us from accepting the forgiveness that is ours through Jesus.
But Hebrews says “We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
This is the Gospel. This is our Gospel! That even though we sin, because of Jesus’ sacrifice we’re invited where even angels fear to tread— into the holy presence of God.
We can always come with our alabaster jars and our broken lives. Jesus will never reject those who come to him for mercy. This is the message we’ve been given, the one we cling too in the darkest nights of the soul.
So imagine the relief Peter felt when Jesus forgave him, and not only forgave him, but made him the rock upon which he built his Church. Peter was welcomed back into friendship with God and restored back to ministry. This redeeming love is the eternal message of Easter.
As we celebrate the resurrection, let us cling to this truth above all others. We will find mercy, grace and healing in the time of our need. It is finished— this is the word of God promised to us.
That weight and burden we feel when we sin has been carried, crucified and buried at the cross of Jesus. We’re free from condemnation, and free to celebrate!