When God’s perfect creation was marred by sin, God set in motion a plan to redeem it. Isaiah 61 describes Jesus’ assignment as God’s chosen Redeemer. “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed” (Isaiah 61:1). Who are the captives and from what prison are they set free? In Genesis 3:13 the Lord asked Eve why she ate the fruit that was forbidden, and she replied, “The serpent deceived me.” The word for deceive in…
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The Day of Atonement
The Bible makes an astounding promise: “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). Contrary to the American dream, we don’t work hard to get this new life through our own effort. It is a gift from God. Why would he give us a new life as a new person? Because he loves us so much that he’s willing to do for us what we could never do for ourselves, which is to make ourselves righteous in his sight.…
