CityView Magazine

16 | April 2015 Easter BY DR. BILL BOYD Have you ever felt really guilty for something you have done? Were you supposed to deliver a paper or document for someone else and you overslept and missed the deadline and they are paying the consequences? O r maybe there is a search for missing money or mer- chandise and you are the culprit. Or possibly you lied to your parents or cheated on your spouse. You have so far managed to es- cape arrest, but your conscience is be- coming impossible to live with. It seems that continuing to live with the guilt only magnifies the pain. Unresolved guilt is a major cause of depression. But how do I get rid of the guilt? First, the reason I feel guilty is be- cause I am guilty. I have offended some- one and almost always it is two people. One, is the human person I offended and two, is the God who created me, the One in whose image I am created. We were/are created to represent God and when we fail to act godly we are guilty. God placed my conscience in my life to warn me and when I disregard my con- science I pay the consequence of sleep- lessness, angst, short temper and if not addressed, possibly depression. So what is God's solution? Come to God in repentance and confession. Now Oh, Blessed, Blessed lies with God. God wants, and yearns, to forgive me. But His nature is absolute holiness. "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty!" e greatest attribute or description of God is not his love but His holiness. GOD IS HOLY. is becomes a huge problem for God. He wants to love and forgive me but His holiness de- mands retribution and payment for my sin. Won't God be forced to jettison his integrity if he forgives my sin and wel- comes or accepts me into His presence? Oh, the wisdom of God and the love of God! Because of God's holiness, someone must pay for this offense that I have committed. But because of His great love, God provided the substitute. e only individual who could possibly sub- stitute for me is someone who had no sin of his or her own. e one who never offended God. ere is only one person who has ever lived and never offended God and that person is Jesus Christ. So in essence Jesus stepped up and said, "Father, I know how deeply Tom, Bob, Bill, Jenny or Lucy has offended you. God please allow me to bear the penalty for their sin." And so God smashed, beat, brutalized, flogged and crucified His own son in my place because of the mag- nitude of my offenses. In fact, the extent of Jesus' pain, suffering and death is the measure of my depravity and personal offense against a holy God. Now the Holy God, because the offense against His character has been adequately paid, is free to accept me and to welcome me into His presence. How can I be certain that my sins are forgiven? e fact that the Father raised Jesus from the dead, is the Father's veri- fication that Jesus' crucifixion and death were adequate and sufficient in His sight to pay and atone for my sin. Jesus' resur- rection is the proof of my acceptability. Oh blessed, blessed Easter. HE IS RISEN. MY SINS ARE FORGIVEN! I am accepted into the presence of the Holy God. Now, at last, I can walk in freedom. I can sleep in peace. I can dance with joy. Now, I understand why Easter is so significant. CV Dr. Bill Boyd is the Strategic Vice President of the Carolina Bible College. if I have offended a human or broken a law and I come to God to confess be- cause I am unwilling to confess to the human or the law, then that's another discussion for another day. Today I am looking at the second person I have of- fended and how to mend that offense. Well let's suppose in a flash of bril- liance and insight I decided to bow my still neck of pride and admit to God, that it is I! I am the offender. I admit to Him that my anger, my pride, my greed, my lust has caused the division, the breech, the evil and all the subsequent pain. Now the question becomes, will God forgive me? How will I know if God for- gives me? "God, you know my heart. All those unintended consequences were never my intention. It's like, yes God I wanted the sin but I never envisioned all the collateral damage. Now I am continu- ally discouraged and distraught. I am deeply ashamed at what has happened. God please forgive me." at is my part in seeking forgiveness. Far and away the most difficult part

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