Zechariah 3:1-5 – “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord (Jesus), and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.  And the Lord said to Satan, “The LORD (the Father) rebuke you, O Satan!  The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!  Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?  Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments.  And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.”  And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.”  And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.”  So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments.  And the angel of the Lord was standing by.”

With that Gospel Truth of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ as our foundation, I want to build on that with a call to continual action described by Paul in Philippians 3:12-14 – “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own.  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.  But one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  

Jesus has said that “It is finished”, you have been reconciled to God for all time.  Our enemy reminds us of our past failings, years ago, months ago, days ago, and yesterday telling us “it isn’t finished, you have dirty clothes, the clothes of a sinner, God is holy, He won’t accept a sinner, God punishes sin.”  All of what satan tells us every day is true, except.. it is finished.  Since we have an enemy that is constantly calling us to remember, God is calling us to forget.  Forgetting doesn’t make light of our past, in fact, it rightly calls it infinitely detestable in agreement with our enemy, but it puts the past where it belongs, on Christ at the cross.  Every time we actively choose to forget our past, we are declaring the sufficiency of Christ to atone for all our sin.  Now, I am burdened for my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ here, because of the pervasiveness with which I see our enemy attacking us here.  The time has come for the mouth of our enemy to be stopped, that the rebuke of Our Father to be magnified, such that our enemy might flee from us before the Light of the Truth of the gospel.

Let me be bold here to say that every one of us struggles with forgetting our past at one point or another.  Some reading this are actually in a cycle of bondage from this – trying to pursue Christ for a time, then struggling with sin or some other relationship issue, only to separate from the body of Christ because they believe this lie of our enemy.  Why are you dwelling on your past sins?  Does Jesus need to be crucified again for you?  Was the price Jesus paid not enough?  Is the seal of your salvation, the Holy Spirit, Christ in you, not sufficient a guarantee of God’s promises to you?  1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God.  You are not your own, you were bought with a price.  So glorify God in your body.”

I realize for many, this act of forgetting is not natural because you have been practicing remembering your sins in agreement with our enemy for so long.  We must practice forgetting, even as we preach the gospel to ourselves daily, each morning.  Paul is well into his ministry when he delivers his letter to the Philippians, just as many of us have been on this walk with Christ for a long period of time.  Paul does not say he forgot his past up until a certain point in time, but he is “forgetting” what lies behind, the includes years ago, days ago, moments ago, and he is pressing forward towards Christ.  How do we arm ourselves for this task?  My exhortation is to press the truth of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ deep into your heart.  Follow after Christ, remembering that His work atoning for all our sin past, present, and future is finished.  Your sin has been fully dealt with.  Each morning, choose who you will serve, calling to mind the promises of God – “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.”  (Lamentations 3:22-23)  Stop sinning.  I don’t mean to stop all your sins, because we are told in 1 John 1:8 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  What I mean is stop resolving yourself to certain known sins simply because you have struggled with them before, yesterday or even moments ago.  Stop saying, well I did this yesterday, so what’s the point in trying to stop today?  That is not Jesus saying that to you.  Resolve yourself to stop today, and pray for God’s mercy as you follow Him.  Stop listening to the lies of our enemy whose goal is only to rob, kill, and destroy our joy in God, and start listening to the One who demonstrated His love for us by dying for us.  He has given you new clothes, His own righteousness.  He has said you are a new Creation, and the old you is dead.  Your sins were crucified with Christ, it is no longer your sinful self who lives, but your life is the life of our Lord Jesus Christ in you.  Follow Him.

Brothers and Sisters, life is short.  None of us knows the day or the hour we may be called home.  Tomorrow is not guaranteed, therefore, let us make the most of each day we have been given, stewarding the time for our Lord while we have opportunity.  Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever.  Know you are loved and prayed for.

Grace and Peace,

Adam