Christ (Our Messiah and Redeemer) took our punishment

Romans 3:21-31 nlt
21)But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.

22)We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

23)For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.

24) Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins.

25) For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His Blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when He held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,

26)For He was looking ahead and including them in what He would do in the present time. God did this to demonstrate His righteousness, for He Himself is fair and just, and He declares sinners to be right in His sight when they believe in Jesus.

27) Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on Faith.

28)So we are made right with God through Faith and not by obeying the law.

29) After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn't He also the God of the gentiles? Of course He is.

30)There is only one God and He makes people right with Himself only by Faith, whether they are Jews or gentiles.

31) Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law
 
For He was looking ahead and including them in what He would do in the present time.

When discussing the nature of God, this statement you made gets lost by some, so I'll pick it out and amplify it a bit, just so I remind myself and others for the sake of building my (our) trust in Him.

We use the words that He (God) said, "Alpha and Omega" or "the Beginning and the End." To say this, is to understand and recognize that He (God) HAD no beginning (Alpha) , and (Omega) "will never cease" or even further, "has no end."

From that point of view, we begin the process of understanding as best we in our human minds can, the Sovereignty of God.

Knowing that He has laid the foundations, but also sees things as if "looking back" towards it, takes us to a whole other level of our confidence in Him.
To know that there is nothing that has happened, nor WILL happen, that He has not seen before hand, nor is surprised by, releases in me, (and in us) the confidence needed to trust Him in ALL situation.

"Trust" is a word that keeps coming up lately (I think I said this in another posting, but will remember it here as well for my own good, and the good of others) as I go thru various struggles and trials in my own life. Even yesterday, as I attended Church services with my parents and then broke bread with them at Lunch, a conversation about trust, led to a reminder from my Dad that repeated themes often means that God is preparing us for something that He wants us to be ready for.

So "trust." Ok God, I'm listening. You want me to trust you. Why? Because there is none like You. There is no one before You, and there will never be anyone after You. You hold my very soul in the palm of your Hand, and see all my days; even my last here on earth. I owe you much; at least to "trust" if I can manage nothing else.

-Soupy
 
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