PODCAST
God’s New Creation
October 26th, 2010
Genesis 44:1-17
The Western legal system is built upon the presupposition that we are “innocent until proven guilty.” We become so inundated with this form of legal system that we often only understand God’s justice in similar ways. Our understanding of the grace of God is squandered by our failure to truly participate in God’s forgiveness. Similar to the judicial system, guilt and shame have a way of holding us captive in our sins, yet God has initiated something entirely different which empowers us to live as truly forgiven people by the work of the Holy Spirit.
When Judah responds to Joseph in today’s text, he is literally asking, “How can we justify ourselves?” We cannot justify ourselves. It is not up to us to prove our innocence. It is not by works that we are saved, but by the grace of God. As Jesus faithfully died on the Cross, the universe changed forever. In the Resurrection, a new creation was being established in which we are justified by God and not our own selves. Live today as one truly forgiven and made innocent by God’s faithfulness.
