Every year near the end of October retailers start promoting Santa Claus- the guy that comes down your chimney on Christmas Eve and brings you lots of presents. They do this to make money. Obviously. Christmas morning arrives and, in a matter of minutes, we tear into that "pile of glee" Soon after, it culminates to sitting in a big pile of rubbish. Then, hopefully everyone is "happy." But- there is a clause here.
And the stipulation is this: In order to qualify to get those presents, you must be good all year long. In other words, Santa will be checking his list, and checking it twice, to see whether or not you have been naughty or nice. :)
Have you ever seen the movie called "Fred Claus?" In this comical, heart-felt film, the main character- Fred, plays the role of being the brother of Santa Claus. Ever since Fred was born he has always taken the "backseat." Ever since his brother emerged in the limelight, Fred always felt that he could never measure up to his brothers perfection. Even Fred's mom had favored his brother over him. Thus he grew into adulthood with a low, disintegrated form of self-esteem, with a "I'll never be good enough label" looming over him.
In the story, Fred gets into trouble, and runs into financial difficulty and ends up in jail. In order to come up with bail money and extra cash needed pay off his other high ended debt, Fred is left with no other choice, but to call on his brother Nick, (St. Nicolas) who lives in the North Pole. Of course his brother bails him out, but in order to get the rest of the funds, Fred has to go to the North Pole and work off the money.
In order to sum this up and get to the heart of the matter here, let's jump right into that specific scene in the film which gripped my heart, and penetrated my soul, revealing a genuine compassion like that of Christ.
During one of Fred's assignments, his job was to sort out the naughty kids from the nice ones. The "all knowing machine" was like a secret camera that enabled him to peer into the lives of the children to monitor their behavior. The "fear tactic" was:
"You'd better watch out...he knows if you've been bad or good..so be good for goodness sake!"
Upon the conclusion of the assessment, Fred is supposed to stamp on each child's report, Naughty or Nice. But as Fred is moved with compassion, he realizes that every kid is in fact- good in nature.
He persistently stamps each and every child as...NICE! Fred chose to dismiss that awful behavioral, measuring-up chart, that he himself, could never measure up to. Instead of placing a judgement called naughty, or bad upon them, he chose to see all the good in each child.
As I watched this beautiful portrayal of compassion, It reminded me of the insurmountable compassion which God has for us. As I heard that stamper of judgement coming down on each child, it was as if I could almost hear Christ being nailed to the cross.
Each strike against Christ broke open His skin, causing blood to flow. This blood was the required payment which purchased our redemption. It broke the curse of the Law (punishment from sin) off of us. As we believe in this finished work we are made righteous.
As He was nailed to the tree, so were the requirements that were against us.(Colossians 2:14) And we were stamped innocent with the seal of approval which can not be reversed. His redemptive blood became the "ink" which labels us clean or "Nice" in the sight of God. Not only for a season, but for all of eternity.
It is forever settled in the courts of heaven that we are found to be innocent. Because someone stepped in to bail us out- Jesus. He paid our ransom and fulfilled the full requirement of the Law. ( See Matthew 5:17) God has dismissed all of the charges that were against us. We have been vindicated through the blood of Christ. "Who gave himself as a ransom for all which is the testimony given at the proper time" (1 Timothy 2:6).
Do you think you could ever be good enough for God? Perhaps you think you're not so bad and you're a good person, therefore you should receive good merits from God. But without the redemptive blood of Christ cleansing you- on your best possible day- your righteousness would be as filthy rags. (Isaiah 54:6)
But with the blood, you become righteous!
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool. ~Isaiah 1:18
Our good standing, and position of righteousness- come only from the finished work of Jesus Christ and has nothing to do with our behavior whether it is good or bad.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and it is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8)
Perhaps you are the one who thinks "I have never done anything right" how can God save me? We can see in Romans 3:10 "no one has done anything right"-But Christ.
Let the heavy burden of works fall right off your shoulders. The notion that- God would not accept a failure like me..someone from the "Island of mis-fit toys," is a lie, you are accepted in the Beloved and He loves you regardless of your behavior.
That is why it's called good news! The devil will only try to spread bad news, hurling false accusations and attempt to pin the Law on us again. But the truth will set you free! Your gift is unmerited salvation!
Christ is KING...and you are GOOD! (Forgiven & Justified, Talented, Blessed, Highly favored, Cleansed, and NICE.)
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