God’s Love for You

From the beginning of creation, it has been clear that God knows everything about us. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. He knows our mistakes, and the impact of these mistakes. But His goal never was punishment, but redemption. Forgiveness. Freedom. To know His love.

We see that love expressed every year on Yom Kippur, the “Day of Atonement,” which begins today at sundown. This special feast was established by God Himself after the Israelites left Egypt. He wanted this to be a day of contemplation, prayer, and self-examination.

No one could work, or eat. God felt it was important that everyone needed to think carefully about their lives and atone for their sins. This whole day was “most holy to the Lord” (Exodus 30).

As part of the observance, the high priest would make atonement for himself and other priests through a sacrifice. Then, he sacrificed a goat as an offering for sin, and a scapegoat was sent into the wilderness, symbolically taking away the sins of the people.

This day reminds us of God’s love, but also the fact that Jesus sacrificed Himself for our sins that we might be forgiven. He changed everything. “We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 3:1-13).

He became our high priest, and, like the scapegoat, took our sins away “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). He was the “propitiation” or “atoning sacrifice” for our sins.

Make this a day to experience real freedom. To be clean from sin. Allow God to search your heart and mind. Confess your sins, and receive His forgiveness. Then rejoice in the freedom that is yours through Christ. Celebrate the fact that God loves you!