It’s hard to believe today is the last Sunday of 2014. Where has this year gone?

As you look back over this year, it’s likely had its highs and lows. For some 2014 may have been a year full of joy and good memories. Maybe everything was going your way this year. And if that’s case, I’m happy for you. We praise God the years like those. But for others, this past year may be full regrets. The frustrating thing about time is that it always moves forward. The hands of the clock always move clockwise, and the pages of the calendar are torn off in only one direction. Time never moves backward; not an inch, not a step, never. Therefore a deed once done, can never be undone. A word once spoken, can never be unsaid. As a result, many of us live with certain regrets. People deal with those regrets in a variety of ways.

Many people today deal with remorse by drowning. Marlon Brando knew about regret. In his youth, Brando was a Hollywood heartthrob, adored by millions of girls all across America. But before his death in 2004, he weighed over four hundred pounds, and said, “I’m sorry for all the harm I’ve done and all the troubles I’ve brought to others in my life. I’ve never been a good parent or a good husband. I’ve been too busy with my own life to have time for others. Now, I’m a guilty old man whose ashamed of the kind of life I’ve led. There’s nothing left for me except eating” (Nelson 367). Plenty of people can relate to Marlon Brando. Maybe the fame and fortune, but looking back at the mistakes they’ve made, they drown their sin and guilt in alcohol, drug abuse, or overeating.

Other people deal with guilt by trying to deny it. They base their morals on societal consensus and then adjust them to any shape or size. Remorse becomes just a nagging relic, a Victorian antique, a psychosis to be denied.

Some people deal with regret by deflecting it. They blame other people for their sins and shortcomings. They blame their parents or their environments—a technique that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, when Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent.

But sooner or later, all these techniques fail, and we find that we can’t escape the consequences of our own sinfulness and guilt. The Bible says, “‘Although you wash yourself with soap and use an abundance of cleansing powder, the stain of your guilt is still before me,’ declares the Sovereign Lord” (Jeremiah 2:22 NIV). Sin is a stain on the soul. How can we get rid of it? We can’t drown it, deny it or deflect it.

But we can dissolve it in the blood of Jesus!

In 1 John 2, we find a single verse that speaks volumes about sin, salvation and starting over. Here’s what the Apostle John writes in his old age to a young congregation:

 

“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.” (1 John 2:1 NLT).

 

I’d like to break this verse down and see what it tells us about ourselves, our sin, and especially our Savior. First, this passage underscores our great adversary: sin!

 

• A GREAT ADVERSARY—SIN

 

I actually find it funny that John starts his second sentence “But if anyone does sin…” That phrase just seems highly optimistic to me. If I were writing Scripture, I would have said, “But when anyone sins…” because we know we will.

I read about a Sunday school teacher, who had just concluded her lesson and wanted to make sure she had made her point. She said, “Can anyone tell me what you must do before you can obtain forgiveness of sin?” There was a short pause and then, from the back of the room, a small boy spoke up. “You gotta sin, right?” he said. And he’s right!

The truth is—all of us are sinners. John makes that clear when he earlier writes: “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth” (1 John 1:8 NLT). We’re all saddled with sin. But have you ever wondered what sin is exactly? For such a small word, there’s a lot of meaning packed into sin.

When asked about the definition of sin, Billy Graham gave the answered: “A sin is any thought or action that falls short of God’s will. God is perfect, and anything we do that falls short of His perfection is sin.” I think Billy Graham got it right.

The Bible actually uses a number of metaphors or “word pictures” to illustrate sin. For example, it tells us that sin is like an archer who misses the target. He draws back his bow and sends the arrow on its way—but instead of hitting the bull’s-eye, it veers off course and misses the mark. The arrow may only miss a little bit or it may miss by a great deal—but the result is the same: The arrow doesn’t land where it is supposed to.

The same is true of sin. God’s will is like the center of that target—and when we fall short of His will or miss the mark, we sin. And this is something we do every day; as the Bible says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Even when we aren’t aware of it, we sin by the things we do (or fail to do), or by the way we think.

As a result, my sins may be different than yours, but all of us struggle with sin. It may be anger or maybe addiction. It could be pride or pornography. Perhaps you wrestle with lustful eyes or a lying tongue. Maybe it’s selfishness or sexual immorality. Whatever sins you struggle with likely leave regret and remorse in their wake. We do things we know we shouldn’t do, and then we wonder why we did them. Sin is our great adversary, but thankfully God has given us a great advantage in the battle against sin.

 

• A GREAT ADVANTAGE—SCRIPTURE

 

Getting back to 1 John 2, John opens this chapter and verse, saying, “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin…” (1 John 2:1 NLT). What was John writing? Scripture. The Bible. The word of God is our advantage in our struggle with sin.

More than a rule book, or a list of dos and don’ts, the Bible is a tool and resource for overcoming the sin in our lives. The Psalmist touches on this when he writes, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11 NIV).

When we absorb Scripture, it gets into us and changes us from within. You see, God’s ultimate goal for you is to mold you into the image of Jesus, but you cannot reproduce the character of Christ on your own strength. New Year’s resolutions, willpower, and best intentions are not enough.  Only the Holy Spirit has the power to make the changes God wants to make in our lives. And he does that most easily through Scripture. In other words, the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make us more like the Son of God.

A sculptor once fashioned a magnificent lion out of solid stone. When asked how he had accomplished such a wonderful masterpiece, he replied, “It was easy. All I did was chip away everything that didn’t look like a lion.” In the same way, the Holy Spirit uses Scripture like a chisel to chip away everything in our lives that does not look like Christ.

Scripture isn’t just a tool in God’s hands; it’s a tool in our hands too. Scripture is the weapon that pushes back against the attacks of our adversary. And Jesus himself teaches us how to wield this weapon. Preparing for his public ministry, Jesus spent forty days alone in the wilderness. Isolated and hungry, Jesus was at his most vulnerable. That’s when Satan attacked. The Bible records three specific temptations that the devil dangled in front of Jesus. Yet, each time Jesus responded with the same words, “It is written…” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10) and then he proceeded to quote Scripture to Satan! In so doing, Jesus stood strong in the face of temptation.

The same can be true for us.

No matter what temptation you’re faced with, God’s Word will speak to that issue. If you’re struggling with materialism, look up verses about covetousness. If you’ve got difficulty dieting, search for verses about self-control. If you have trouble with your temper, read some verses about anger. If you have a problem with pornography, listen to what the Bible says about lust. Let God’s Word speak to you. Memorize some verses that relate to your life and struggles. Hide them in your heart. Then, when temptation strikes, respond immediately by speaking God’s Word aloud from your arsenal of Scriptures!

On the path to spiritual maturity, even temptation becomes a stepping-stone rather than a stumbling block when you realize that it is just as much an opportunity to do the right thing as it is to do the wrong thing. Temptation simply provides the choice. While temptation is Satan’s primary weapon to destroy you, God wants to use it to develop you. Every time you decide to do good instead of sin, you are growing in the character of Christ. (Warren 201)

Of course, none of us will ever become sinless. But—with Scripture and God’s Spirit working inside of us—we can certainly sin less. As Thomas Jefferson once stated, “I have always said and always will say that the studious perusal of the Holy Scriptures will make better citizens, better fathers, better husbands… The Bible makes the best people in the world.” As we begin this New Year, I want to encourage you to spend more time getting into God’s Word and letting his Word get into you.

Finally, in addition to our great adversary and our great advantage, John also underscores our great Advocate—Jesus Christ.

 

• A GREAT ADVOCATE—JESUS

 

No matter how badly you mess up, no matter how serious your sin, John assures us “we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.” (1 John 2:1 NLT).

Despite what you may have heard, I’m sure there will be plenty of lawyers in heaven. But only one of them will be practicing—Jesus. An advocate or mediator is someone who is on your side—a person who speaks in your defense so that you can receive a fair judgment, like a lawyer in a jury trial that defends the accused. Jesus represents those who have placed their trust in Him before God’s throne of grace. He mediates for us, much as a defense attorney mediates for his client, telling the judge, “Your honor, my client is innocent of all charges against him.”

Unlike many lawyers, though, Jesus isn’t lying.

We’re innocent not because we didn’t commit the crimes, but because Jesus, our Divine Defense Attorney already paid the penalty for us. The Bible tells us that the only just penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23). Because Jesus died for our sins on the cross, he can present us before God as totally innocent sinners.

That’s why the Bible says, “So now, those who are in Christ Jesus are not judged guilty” (Romans 8:1 NCV). Even though we are caught in our sins—even though we lie, cheat, steal, or whatever else—God has declared us “not guilty”!

Meanwhile, the Bible describes Satan as our Accuser, reminding us of all our sins. “God could never forgive you. You’ve done such horrible things.” How many times has that thought passed through the synapses of human brains? How many times has it lodged in your mind? Is your case a difficult one? Have your sins been shocking and frequent? Are your spiritual diseases strange and complex? Satan tries to shackle and enslave us with guilt and regret, but in God’s Courtroom his accusations sputter and fall like a deflated balloon. God won’t if listen to them.

Then why do we still listen them? Why do we, as Christians, still struggle with guilt and regret? It boils down to a choice: Do you listen to and trust your Accuser or your Advocate?

 

Conclusion:

 

As we look back over our this year and consider the sins, failures, and mistakes we’ve made—whether it was ten months ago or ten minutes ago—it’s easy to become discouraged and depressed, to believe that God could never forgive us. The sins of our past often haunt us for many years.

Dr. Paul Brand, writing with Phillip Yancey, told a story about his medical school administrator, a man named Mr. Barwick, who had a serious and painful circulation problem in his leg. When the pain became unbearable, Prof. Barwick cried, “I’m through with that leg. Cut it off!”

Surgery was scheduled immediately and the leg was removed, but afterward Barwick suffered from phantom limb pain of the worst degree. Somehow locked in his memory were the sensations associated with that leg. Even though the leg wasn’t there, Barwick could feel the torturous pressure of swelling as the muscles cramped and itched and throbbed.

“He hated the leg with such intensity that the pain had unaccountably lodged permanently in his brain,” wrote Brand, who then added, “To me, phantom limb pain provides wonderful insight into the phenomenon of false guilt. Christians can be obsessed by the memory of some sin committed years ago. It never leaves them, crippling their ministry, their devotional life, and their relationships with others…” (Nelson 307).

The reason we can forgive ourselves of past mistakes and regrets is simply this—God’s forgiveness is all-encompassing, total, eternal, and final. The blood of Jesus so thoroughly expunges our sins that it’s a sin to keep bringing them up again. Don’t let the sins of your past haunt you. They’re gone! Let them go.

As we begin 2015, let’s do so with clean slate and a clear conscience.

 

Invitation:

 

Today you have the opportunity to start over. You don’t even have to wait until the New Year begins; you can do it right now. As we stand and sing, I want to encourage you to stand and pray. Lay your sins at the foot of the cross, and then leave them there. If can help you with that, then please talk with me today… Let’s sing church.