GUILT (JESUS PAID THE PRICE)

                             

          

               GUILT (JESUS PAID THE PRICE)

A MANUSCRIPT BY FOLASAYO AWODUMILA 

INTRODUCTION:

Yet, Christ paid the full price to set us free from the Curse of the law. He absorbed it completely as he becomes a curse in our place, for it is written " Everyone who is hung upon a tree is doubly cursed (Gal 3:13)

How did Jesus pay the price : He was human and without sin, he was able to take our sin and sacrifice himself on the cross to pay for our mistakes.(Col 1:14)

We all have a guilty conscience, to let us know if we've done something wrong, or that pricks us when we do wrong things, but Jesus offers another way to make things right with God of justice - a way to free us from the condemnation of God and of our own conscience, it's a way that lets the principle of justice stand and at the same time rescues people who would be condemned by it, Jesus said " The son of man (Jesus Himself) came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a Ransome(Gal 3;13-14)

His life as a payment, Jesus said that he came into the world so that when our Conscience says "You are going to pay for that" we can say back " No I am not because Jesus has already paid for it all"

The greatest news in all the world is that the son of God has paid the price of my Condemnation, the new testament says "God has done what the law... Could not do.

Jesus Paid the Price (Matt 20:22) Jesus Christ is not only the Creator of the world but he is also our Saviour, who came to redeem lost sinner from an eternal prison of hell, which occured when Adam and Eve sinned and were expulsed from the amazing fellowship they had with the lord.

We need to understand that God longs for that unbroken relationship with men so he sent his one and only son to give his life as a ransom for man so that anyone who accepts that free gift of eternal pardon can have his relationship with God restored. 

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I took a slight sip from the whiskey I had in my glass cup while I stared at the test result I had in my hands, Katie Phillips positive to Hiv Virus, I poured more whiskey in my glass cup, and drank it all, my head kept spinning as I kept hearing voices in my head, Katie your life is ruined, ruin there's as well, spread the virus to every man you sleep with, I felt my head was going to fall off my neck, I pushed open the drawer by my bedside and brought out the last marijuana I had, I kept the glass cup on the floor, sat on the floor, poured the marijuana in a piece of paper and sniffed it through my nose, the banging on my head stopped abruptly, I was in cloud 9 in seconds, everything became alright all of a sudden, everything felt calm, I pushed the whiskey bottle and the rest of the marijuana aside, I laid on the floor to sleep, not sure I had slept for 30 minutes when I heard a knock on my door, I struggled to get up, before I could sit up, I saw a paper tossed underneath my door into my room, I stretched out to pick it and saw its a Christian tract, I flipped to the other side to see what was written and what I saw was "Jesus loves you" I squeezed it and trashed it in the bin, I got up to have a shower, afterwards I dressed up for my regular night business.

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Fred pass the syringe, I felt uneasy as I sat on the chair, facing Fred, he had the intravenous (IV) intoxicants with him, I just wanted it in my bloodstream, I was shaking and restless, I looked at him as he pulled the liquid into the syringe as thou my whole life depended on it, I injected myself and I felt high, I felt calm again, I stood up and headed to the door, hey Christine Fred shouted my name, I turned and he said, Yo! Where's my money? I dipped my hand into my jean pocket and handed the money I had to him.

My name is Christine Phillips and am a junkie, I staggered through the pavement into my car, my phone rang, I picked it up and my mum's voice was the last thing I heard cause I passed out in the car, the last thing I remembered was I being rushed into an ambulance and straight into the ICU (Intensive Care Unit)

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Edwin Phillips I heard my name from one of the guards, I turned and he signalled for me to come closer, I went to him and he dumped my clothes in my hands, you are released, am an ex-convict, also the leader of a dubious gang, I grabbed my clothes and went to the restroom to change into it, I stepped out of the prison gate, I smiled as I smelt my freedom, I looked for a phone booth to use around the prison premises, hey Harry I just got released and am coming for my own share of the deal, i heard Harry laugh at the other end of the phone then he shouted correct guy, I smiled, hung up the call and took a taxi, these deals are basically what I use to keep the body and soul together, they call it dubious deals, I call it the fastest way to make money.

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The Cathedral is a very big one, everyday, a fragile old woman is seen seated two seats to the pulpit praying, Maria Phillips a woman in her late 60s, sits in the Church everyday praying, she lost her husband when she was barely 35 years old, they've been married for just 10 years when her husband died, Maria and her husband shared a very close bond, they did almost everything together, when he died, Maria lost herself completely, they had three kids together, a boy and two girls,Maria couldn't pull herself together to take care of the kids, she drank to stupor most times, leading her to major depression, her kids were all minors, most times when she's drunk, welfare services came around to pick these kids from her, at some point they took the kids completely from her and took them to a Foster home, Edwin was the first, followed by Katie and then Christine who is the last born. Things were really tough for Maria and her kids, she was taken to a rehab, while the kids grew up at a Foster home, they didn't like it there but they had no choice, they weren't properly monitored so they lived a reckless life, they all hustled to live.

Katie became a call girl at a very young age, she slept with any man that was willing to give her money, she started having sex at the age of 15, she hustled on the streets to make ends meet, she found out some few days ago that she was HIV positive, she must have contacted it from her wayward lifestyle she said to herself and now she intends infecting every man she sleeps with.

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Maria held the rosary in her hand very tight, while tears rolled through her face, she always sat at the same spot in the Church everyday, she goes to Church everyday to pray for her children, she felt she has lost them completely, the only one she still reaches out to is Christine, she picked up her phone to call her, hello Christine she said, but at the other end, the voice she heard was very low, Christine are you ok? But before she could get a response the line went off, she rushed out of the Church not knowing who to call.

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Christine was placed on an oxygen at the ICU, she took an overdose of the intravenous (IV) intoxicants earlier on that day, she was unconscious when her mum Maria got to the hospital she was admitted in,Maria was downcast seeing the state Christine was in, she sat down beside her daughter with her rosary, she prayed silently to God to please restore her back to life, as she prayed, she wept Cause she believed she failed her children, if she had been strong after their fathers death, then maybe they wouldn't have turned out the way they did.

While she sat beside Christine, she noticed the life support was going flat, she quickly reached out to one of the nurses who immediately called the doctors, Maria had to excuse herself from the ward, while they did everything to resuscitate Christine, eventually the doctors and nurses were able to stabilize her, they advised Maria to keep praying, so that Christine wouldn't loose her life, cause the overdose she took had gotten deep into her veins.

Maria headed back to the Church,and knelt down at the Altar, she cried, she prayed,she asked for forgiveness, she prayed to God to bring her kids back home to him.

The next day she rushed down to the hospital where Christine was, she got to the ward and saw Christine had opened her eye, she rushed towards her and hugged her tightly tears rolling down her face, Christine just stared at her and said nothing, the doctors have advised her to take Christine home with her and ensure she stops the drug intake else she might die.

Christine looked pale while she kept scratching her head and every part of her body.

She looked at her mum, and she made a gesture of rubbing her hands on her nose,as thou to sniff something, her mum knew what she wanted, she became very uneasy, Maria rushed out to call the doctors, the doctors came in and gave her an injection that made her sleep, the doctors told her that she would be moved to another ward, where she would be monitored while they try to help her get out of the addiction.

It was days and weeks filled with pain for Maria and daughter, Cause she was helping Christine fight the addiction and the pain that came from it wasn't something to behold, there are times, she felt Christine would die if they didn't give her the cocaine but the specialist working with Christine would always assure her that she would be fine, Christine was tied to the bed, in order for her not to run off in search of the cocaine, she went on seizures so many times when she yearns for the cocaine and it wasn't given to her, she cries like someone in deep pain whenever she wasn't given the cocaine, the therapy went on for weeks, after the third week, Christine's body gradually started adjusting to "no cocaine" Maria never stopped praying and she never left Christine side after a month and some weeks of consistent therapy, Christine became clean, she wasn't a junkie any more, she looked and acted normal, she was discharged from the hospital and was free to go home, but Maria was advised to still keep an eye on her not to mix with the People that normally give her the drugs.

Christine became a totally changed person , she went to Church regularly with her mum, initially she felt withdrawn,Maria noticed and one night while they drove home she asked her why she's always withdrawn in Church, she told her mum she feels God wouldn't forgive her cause of the type of live she had lived, my child Maria said God loves you the only way you can make up for all you've done is to serve him wholeheartedly, he has forgiven you already and right now he is happy you are back to him, Christine looked at her mum and said mum are you sure? My child if there's anything am certain of it's God's love for us all.

Christine became more involved in Church, she gave lessons in Church using her story as a testimony that there's no one God cannot save.

Maria looked for a way to get through to Katie but all efforts proved abortive until she was told where Katie normally stays to get her clients; Maria decided to go to the place that night; When she got there, she saw her leaning on a car speaking with a guy at the driver's seat,  Maria got down from her car, went to where Katie was, she signalled to the guy she was speaking with to move on to another lady, Katie turned and was shocked to see her mum, mum what are you doing here she asked, Maria took her arms and dragged Katie to where she parked her car, Katie followed her reluctantly, Katie what is wrong with you her mum shouted at her as they entered the car, why are you still doing this, mum I can't just stop like that, why can't you just stop like that, you are ruining your life my child, Katie looked at her mum in the eyes and she said mum my life is ruined already, as she said those words, she had tears in her eyes, Maria pulled her close to herself and gave her a tight hug, Maria spoke in-between her tears, am sorry Katie, am sorry I did this to you, she cried Katie also cried, her mum drove her out of that place and took her to where she stayed with Christine, Christine was doing so well, she recently got a good job, Maria told Katie while she drove, they got to Maria's place, Katie stepped out of the car and immediately Christine saw her, she ran towards her and embraced her,it's been long they saw each other, the embrace lasted a while, Maria came over to join them, they all walked into the house, Maria and Katie had a long talk that night, they spoke for a while and cried alot, Katie told her mum of her HIV status, this broke Maria's heart, Maria held her daughters hands and prayed with her and led her into the words of God she told her that she shouldn't let her HIV status define her, that she can still make something meaningful out of her life. Katie asked her mum would God ever accept her with how waywardly she had lived her life, Maria smiled in between her tears and said God would be most happy to see you turn a new leaf and come to him.

The next day Katie went with Christine and her mum to the Church they fellowshiped in, she gave her life to Christ and promise to turn a new leaf, Maria Smiled when she saw her two daughters with her in Church, she said to herself, I have recovered them, God please help me recover Edwin.

While they drove back home, Maria asked Katie, when last she saw Edwin her brother, Katie looked through the window and said the last time I saw him, he was behind bars, I don't know if he's still there or he has been released.

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It was late in the night one fateful day, Edwin pulled up at a bar,he stepped out of his car and entered the bar, he looked around for those he was meant to meet there, he saw them sitting at the upper wing of the bar, he walked up to them and sat with them, they were meant to conclude on a deal they had just finished working on, the agreement was 50/50, Edwin shouted on one of the guy that told him, he was going to take 30% off the deal, the other guy shouted back at Edwin that he did absolutely nothing in the said deal, that all he did was give them a lead, aside that they did everything by themselves and as such 30% or nothing.

Edwin stood up bent over the table,and faced their boss, it's either you give me my 50% share or we all get busted, the guy looked at him and said nothing, Edwin left the bar, but as he was about entering his car, he felt the bullet hit right through his back, then he saw himself flat on the floor, it was dark and there was no one around, he kept bleeding and he couldn't stand up, for fifteen minutes, he rolled in his blood, no one saw him, no one could help him.

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Maria has been feeling this emptiness within her for days, she went to Church that afternoon to pray, she just kept feeling as thou something is missing, she couldn't understand how she was feeling, as she sat in the Church a call came in, she picked her phone to answer the call, a male voice greeted her at the other end, am I unto Maria Phillips, he asked, she answered silently, yes please could you come over to our hospital to identify a body, am afraid there's an Edwin Phillips that was shot some days ago, and was found in his pool of blood, we tried our best to save him but am afraid we lost him some few hours ago, the phone slipped off Maria's hand she became totally weak as she sat on the closest chair to her,tears rolled down her face.

She got to the hospital with Katie and Christine, the doctor calmed them down and explained all that happened.

Maria held her rosary tight while they took her to where Edwin is, she requested to see Edwin alone and told her daughters to wait for her in the lobby, when Maria entered the room Edwin was laid, it took her minutes before she could pull down the clothes covering his face, when she did, she cried and prayed to God, Maria prayed in that room for 3 hours crying at the same time saying this isn't what God promised her, he promised her she would recover her three (kids) alive none dead, none missing and she has held on to those words for years, she cried, she prayed, she worshipped for another three hours, making it six hours, and at the seventh hour of praying, crying and rolling on the floor worshipping God, Edwin Sneezed back to life, immediately she heard the sneeze she stood up from the floor and rushed to where Edwin was laid, she saw her son come back to life, she held him close to her tightly while she cried profusely, immediately she called on the doctors,the doctors came in and they were surprised cause Edwin was certified dead, they quickly rushed him to the theatre and did all the necessary things needed to keep him alive.

After that encounter Maria and Edwin had, Edwin gave his life to Christ,he got ordained as a pastor in a local Church, he became a fire brand for God, he became what God has destined him to become.

N.B Jesus paid the price in full price to set us free from the curse (Gal 3:14)

Jesus our messiah, was cursed in our place and in so doing, dissolved the curse from our lives, so that all the blessings of Abraham can be poured out upon even non - Jewish believers. Some will ask if Jesus paid the price, for our sin, why do we still suffer the consequences of our sin?

The bible gives the good news that Jesus paid the price for our sin (Eph 1:7) yet in many ways we still suffer the consequences of our sins, for example a drug dealer may become a Christian in prison, but that doesn't mean he will be released from prison the next day, he will still experience the consequences of his past sin. A born again Christian who falls into Adultery may lose his family, his career etc, even after he confesses and forsakes his sin, the consequences of his sin remain, coming to Christ does not erase the temporal effects of sin, rather our salvation guarantees that we will not face the eternal consequences of sin. The consequences of sin is death (Rom 6:23)

As sinners we deserve to be eternally separated from God and his holiness, on the cross Christ paid the penalty of our sin with his own blood. he who knows no sin was made to be sin on our behalf (2Cor 5:21)

It is important to understand that, when a believer in Christ experiences consequences for sin, it is not because he is under God's condemnation (Rom 8:1) his wrath (1 Thes 5:9) or his retribution (2 Thes 1:8) Believers are under God's grace (Rom 6:15) Jesus took the wrath of God upon himself (Isaiah 53:10) Sins consequences still experience by believers could be classified in one of these ways:

1) Universal Consequences: We are all Children of Adam, we all have weeds growing in our gardens

2) Natural Consequences: We live in a world of cause and effect, where the law of sowing and reaping is on full effect.

3) Instructional Consequences: Very likely, God allows some of sins consequences to remain in our lives to teach us the heinous nature of sin and to remind us to depend upon God's grace

4) Disciplinary Consequences: Some of the sins consequences are the result of God's treating us as a father should his Children.

God doesn't condemn any sinner, rather he wants you to come back to him, God allows us to experience some of the temporal consequences of sin to show his love for us. If God never disciplined his straying Children, he would not be a good father, if we were never disciplined or never suffered the consequences for our wrong action, we would never learn right from wrong, We tend to learn from our mistakes more readily than we learn from our successes.