And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach. Colossians 1:21-22.
Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins. Acts 10:43.
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
A life in Christ is a forgiven life. It is a life before Me as if you had never sinned. Hebrews 10:17, Colossians 1:21-22. It is hard for you to grasp the full impact of what it means to have received Christ as your Lord and Savior, it should clear your conscience of dead works, Hebrews 9:14, so that forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, you press on toward the goal for the prize of My upward call to you in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14. When you became a new creation in Christ the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17. You must take up a new mindset of who you are and walk in newness of life—a forgiven, justified, blessed life. Because of My great love for you and My desire to dwell with you, I sent Jesus and made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin on your behalf, so that you might become righteous with My own righteousness in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21. I was in Christ reconciling the world to Myself, not counting your trespasses against you, and now I have sealed you who believe in Him as well and reconciled you into Myself. He has freed you from every hindrance to a life in the light of My love. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed!
And today’s life lesson in our study of how to live your life IN CHRIST is: “Forgiven, Holy, and Blameless.” And that is why I gave you Jesus, to make you just that and bring you back into perfect fellowship, partnership and stewardship with Me. Jesus makes all the difference, everything is summed up in Him in all creation from the beginning to the end. For it was My good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Myself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, whether things on earth or things in the heavens. Colossians 1:19-20. He is the Aleph and the Tav.
In Jesus I have raised you from the ash heap to seat you with the Prince of Peace. Psalm 113:7-8; 1 Samuel 2:8. The ash heap is your sins, for the burnt offering was burned with fire until it was nothing but ash. So in Jesus, I raised you out of your sins when I raised Christ from the dead, from the depths of hell, when He had finished the work I gave Him to do to remove your sins from you to seat you in Heaven in Christ Jesus. He fulfilled the type of the burnt offering, I Myself supplied the Lamb, as My prophet Abraham foretold. Your sins and offenses I remember NO MORE. Hebrews 10:17. In Jesus, I lifted all your sins off you. He bore your burdens and took your yoke so that you no longer are a slave to sin and death but are set free of all that bound you.
What does this mean to you? Everything. This is why you can come with confidence to My throne of grace and receive mercy and find grace to help just when you need it and know you will have it. This is why there is no fear of death in you now, for dying to you, as My servant Paul put it, is so much gain for it is then you awaken to My glorious Kingdom and an eternal existence that human words cannot express. And it is why you can be one with Me no matter how evil or disobedient your past behavior has been. It is gone, taken by Christ, and you are washed clean in His blood. And there is so MUCH MORE, for once you were saved it did not stop there. It is better not to sin, but if out of weakness you should after being saved, if you confess our sins, I am faithful and righteous to forgive you your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9. But even better if you walk in the Light as I Myself am in the Light, you have fellowship with Me and My Son, and the blood of Jesus continually cleanses you from all sin. 1 John 1:7. It is an eternal redemption.
Once you are in Christ, you should take your eyes off yourself and put them on Christ. Just as when the Israelites in the desert sinned against Me and were bitten by the poisonous snakes that crossed over into the camp when the Israelites let the barrier down of My shield of good will by their sin, I directed them to look away from themselves to the bronze serpent I instructed Moses to construct upon the standard pole (cross). When they looked upon the bronze (the metal representing judgment) serpent they were healed. Jesus told you, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” John 3:14-15. For My Will is that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and Jesus Himself will raise him up on the last day. John 6:40. I direct you to do that—to keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith, Hebrews 12:2, and to set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth, where Christ is seated at My right hand, and you are seated there with Him in the spirit realm. Colossians 3:2.
Your sins should no longer be weighing you down. Jesus took away your sins, don’t try to take them back, instead, lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles you, and run with endurance the race that is set before you. Hebrews 12:1. And you are to run in, with, and through Him for in My great love I have given you My Son Jesus so that you might live through Him. 1 John 4:9. In this is love, not that you loved Me, but that I loved you and sent My Son to be the propitiation for your sins. 1 John 4:10. It is of first importance in your relationship with Me to know that Christ died for your sins and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. Never forget that you who are in Christ are forgiven, but more than forgiven, you are as if you had NEVER sinned. He took your sins; they are no longer yours. I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud and your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. Isaiah 44:22.
And, by the kind intention of My Will towards you, I planned this since before the foundation of the world, that you would be holy and blameless before Me in Christ. Ephesians 1:5. For you who are in Christ, grace makes it as if man had never sinned. If you still call to mind past sins with shame, even though you believe you are forgiven in Christ, you do not understand what I have done for you in Christ by grace. You do not understand what Christ did for you and for all men. Your sins are not just forgiven in Christ, they are gone! As far as the east is from the west so far have I put them from you. In other words, it is as if they had NEVER happened. Your life, once you are in Christ, is rewritten as if you had never done anything wrong. You have been made perfect by the blood of My Son.
The testimony My Spirit gives you under the New Covenant is that your sins and offenses I remember NO MORE. Hebrews 10:15-17. When you are forgiven by a fellow human being, the remembrance of the sin, though forgiven, is still there between you—it is still under there though it is forgiven, and there are times when it will be recalled and revisited. But that is not how it is with Me for I put your sins on Christ. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and they are no longer on you at all. John 1:29. He bore your sins in His own body, Your sins transferred onto Him. They are no longer on you AT ALL. That is why My Holy Spirit testifies that your sins and lawless deeds I remember no more. They are gone from your life as if you never did them. Like a rewind. As far as I am concerned it never happened. And this redemption is eternal and for all time so it applies to you fresh and new each time you fall short of My glory. And here is the formula as it is written again, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. As you follow Me, we walk in the Light as I am in the Light, John 8:12, and the eternal Blood of Jesus cleanses you from all sin. 1 John 1:7.
And this is true not only for you, but for everyone from the beginning to the end of time whose faith was credited to them as righteousness like faithful Abraham. Genesis 15:16; Romans 4:3-12. And I taught Abraham the Gospel ahead of time. Galatians 3:8. Abraham saw the day of Jesus and rejoiced. John 8:56. And Moses wrote about Jesus. John 5:46. And Isaiah saw His glory and spoke about Jesus. John 12:41; Isaiah 6:1; Isaiah 53:5-6. As did all the prophets. 1 Peter 1:10-12. For this reason Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Hebrews 9:15.
For those of faith, this redemption goes back to Adam and forward to the last person born on earth when Jesus returns. For it is an eternal sacrifice made once for all for all time. Hebrews 7:27; Hebrews 9:12; 28; Hebrews 10:10, 14. In Jesus, it is as if Adam never sinned. In Christ, you are holy and unblemished before Me since before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4. That is a total rewind back to Adam. That is a total purification from sin—just as it is written: “When Jesus had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High.” Hebrews 1:3. Your sins have been completely washed away in the Blood of My Son. Revelation 7:14. Though your sins were red as scarlet, I made them white as snow. Isaiah 1:18-19. The stain is no longer there. It is gone. When you come to Me in the Name of Jesus you come in pristine purity of a sinless life. 1 John 4:16-17.
This rewind is shown in a sign of the Old Testament, a shadow of the good things to come of whom the substance and fulfillment is Jesus. When Jesus left His glory in Heaven, He stepped into the torrent of sin that Adam had released and caused to descend through him onto all the human race. Romans 5:12. In Joshua 3:14-17, there is a foretelling of this when the younger generation of the Israelites, led by Joshua, cross through the Jordan on their way to conquer their first city, Jericho. Not this is what took place: “ So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant before the people, and when those who carried the Ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the Ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, and rolled back past a great distance the city of Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea (known as the Dead Sea), were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. And the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.” Joshua 3:14-17.
Do you see the shadow of Christ?
First consider that I told Joshua to have the priests were carrying the Ark of the Covenant go into the Jordan first. The Ark of the Covenant represented My presence among the Israelites, Exodus 25:22, 2 Samuel 6:2. The Ark itself is a sign of Christ. It was made of wood covered completely, inside and outside, in solid gold. Exodus 25:10-11. Wood—a tree—represents man, “he is like a tree planted near running waters,” Psalm 1:3; Jeremiah 17:7-8, and gold represents My righteousness; thus showing Jesus as God and Man. Inside the Ark I instructed Moses to put the tablets of the Ten Commandments (the Testimony), which Jesus kept perfectly, John 15:10, and on top of the Ark, like a lid or covering, was the solid gold Propitiatory (mercy seat) with two cherubim made of solid gold also formed from its two ends with their wing tips meeting over the Propitiatory and their faces looking down on the Propitiatory. It was on the Propitiatory that the Priest atoned for sins by sprinkling upon it the blood of the lamb.
Jesus put His Blood on the Propitiatory in the true Holy of Holies in Heaven to redeem you and shield you from the wrath of My justice for breaking My commands, Hebrews 9:11-12; Hebrews 9:22-28. And it was from above the Propitiatory, between the two cherubim on the Ark, that I spoke to Moses of what the Israelites were to do. Exodus 25:17-22. And now I speak to you through My Son, who has made purification of all sins. Hebrews 1:1-3.
Also inside the Ark of the Covenant was an urn of the manna, Exodus 16:33-34, Hebrews 9:4. This also is a sign of Jesus who is the true Bread from Heaven, John 6:32-35. And in the Ark, I also had Moses put the rod of Aaron, the High Priest, that blossomed, Hebrews 9:4, which again is a sign of Jesus, who is your true High Priest forever, Hebrews 7:26-Hebrews 8:1.
When the priests carrying the Ark stepped into the overflowing Jordan River (and the Hebrew word “Jordan” is “Yarden” which means “descend” or “flow down”) the torrent stopped and rolled back in a great heap all the way back to and just beyond Adam (you will never hear of that city in the Torah, the Prophets or the Scriptures again after that one incidence) and the descent of the river into the Dead Sea was completely dried up. Joshua 3:16.
Do you see your redemption symbolized here in what really took place historically? Jesus embraced your humanity and bore your sins and iniquities to death on the cross; and as the Holy Spirit raised that standard in the flood of sin (descending on all men from its source in the first man, Adam, Romans 5:18), Isaiah 59:19, the torrent descending from Adam rolled back in a heap until all its path was cleared right back to Adam. The one righteous act of the last Adam (Jesus) made all men righteous, just as if sin had never happened. Just as if Adam had never fallen. Romans 5:16-18 (“The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.”)
And the waters no longer flowed to the Dead Sea. Instead there was a dry riverbed, a highway upon which the children of those I had redeemed from slavery walked into the Promised Land. Jesus is the Way, the Highway of Holiness, upon which the redeemed walk to Zion, the mountain of grace. Isaiah 35:8-11. And Christ tasted death for you all. Hebrews 2:9. All who believe in Him will never experience the condemnation of eternal death– “dust you are and to dust you shall return”- for Jesus embraced that sentence for all men and went down to the dust of death. Psalm 22:16 (15). I promised you eternal life before the world began and I kept My promise to you in Jesus, the Faithful and the True. Titus 1:2; Revelation 19:11. There is no condemnation now for those who are in Christ. Romans 8:1. Your life in Christ is no longer flowing to the Dead Sea. It is abundant eternal life. John 10:10. He who believes in Him has eternal life. 1 John 5:13.
And I would like to share with you something else hidden here that is revealed to you now. The Jordan river begins at Mount Hermon in the northernmost part of Israel on the Lebanon-Syria border west of Damascus, very near to Caesarea Philippi. It has three principal sources, all of which rise at the foot of Mount Herman, the highest mountain in Israel. It descends into the Sea of Galilee, and then out and down to the Dead Sea, so that the lower part of the river has the lowest elevation of any river in the world, since the Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth. And the Dead Sea has not further outlet when the water goes there, there is no way out. And as I told you, Jordan in Hebrew is “Yarden” which means descending, flowing downward.
Mount Hermon is the high mountain near Caesarea Philippi upon which Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John in the splendor of His glory. And I appeared there, bringing Moses and Elijah in the cloud of glory, that is, of My presence. This shows you many things, but it shows you that when I created man, all three persons, Me (the Father), My Son, and the Holy Spirit formed man in our image and according to our likeness. The Jordan has three rivers as its source. And I clothed man in glory and majesty and gave him dominion over the works of My hands. He had the lofty stature of Mount Hermon, but man sinned and turned his dominion over to the devil and became subject to sin and death and what he did descended on all mankind.
From Mount Hermon, the highest mountain in Israel, the Jordan descends to the lowest place on earth. From the dew of Mount Hermon to the dry desert of the Dead Sea, that is what Adam did to mankind by sin, from the highest peak in Israel to the lowest place on earth. And in the Book of Deuteronomy when I speak of the conquest of the Promised Land to the northern point of Mount Hermon, I call Mount Hermon “Zion.” Have you read Psalm 133? “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there the LORD commanded the blessing—life forever.” Psalm 133:1-3.
Do you remember when Moses was pleading with Me to let him lead the Israelites into the Promised Land that his request was “O Lord (Adonai) LORD (Yahweh), You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours? Let me, I pray, cross over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that good (טּ֛וֹב) mountain (הָ֥ר), this and Lebanon.” Deuteronomy 3:24-25. I did not tell him “no,” though he took it as such, I merely told him to speak to Me no more of the matter. I actually gave him a “yes” answer though, for two thousand years later (and a thousand years are as a day in My sight (and Moses wrote that in Psalm 90), Moses was standing on that mountain with Jesus, Elijah, Peter, James, and John, right on the border of Lebanon. And Moses and Elijah were discussing with Jesus about His departure, His death and resurrection, that He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Luke 9:31. They were discussing the forgiveness of sin that would flow back to them and all down the ages from the beginning to the end and open Heaven to all. Moses, Elijah, all people who believe became forgiven, holy, blameless, and beyond reproach by the work of Jesus that they were discussing on the good mountain Moses had longed to see.
Jesus, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to Me, cleanses your conscience from dead works by His Blood to serve Me, the living God. Hebrews 9:14. And His death is a perpetual offering. He died once for all for all time. His sacrifice applies to you today and tomorrow and forever. 1 John 1:9; 1 John 1:7.
And My grace that I have given you in Christ does not stop at initial salvation but continues forever as the New and Eternal Covenant lavished on you now and for all the ages to come. Ephesians 1:7-8; Ephesians 2:4-7 (“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”)
I love you. And that is what My gift to you of Jesus is all about. It is no longer your fault, it was your fault, but I put all your sins on Him and He took them as if they were His fault. Your life in Christ is forgiven, holy, and blameless before Me.