No Fault

        Today, at this Christmas time, God says to us, “I find no fault in you. “I can already hear you saying, “How can that be? I constantly miss the mark. I get angry and say rude things when I’m frustrated or don’t like how other people think. I become impatient, especially with drivers who toddle along fifteen kilometers under the speed limit. Sometimes my thoughts are anything but loving toward others.”

            If you are born again and have made Jesus your Saviour and Lord, the Father still says, “I find no fault in you.” Why? Because of Jesus. Through Him, we have been made the righteousness of God. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV).

            In the Old Testament, the High Priest could only enter the Holy of Holies, the place of God’s Presence, once per year on the Day of Atonement. On that day, he did not wear the colourful golden garments, but only white linen garments. When he first entered, he burned incense before the Ark of the Covenant, filling the room with smoke. Then he would exit.

            When he returned, he entered the Holy of Holies with the blood of the sacrifice, which he sprinkled on the Ark seven times. The people could not enter the Holy of Holies. The High Priest represented all the people, making atonement through the blood of the sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the Israelites.

            But now, because of the shed blood of Jesus, we can enter boldly into the very throne room of God and find help in our time of need. “Now that we know what we have – Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God...let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help” (Hebrews 4:14,16 MSG).

            We can now stand before our Heavenly Father, without fear, without guilt or condemnation, and when we do miss the mark and get off course, we repent, receive His forgiveness, and get back on track. “...if we admit our sins—simply come clean about them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing” (1 John 1:9 MSG).

            Hear the words of the Father in Colossians 1:20-22 (NLT):
 
 “...and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.  Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault” (italics mine).
 
And in Ephesians 1:4 (NLT):
 
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes” (italics mine).
 

        Today, as you get ready for Christmas, take the time to look into the eyes of your Heavenly Father. Linger there. And hear him say, “I find no fault in you.” Come face to face with Love Himself.