This chapter really hits me hard because as I look upon that cross, I see all my shame, my guilt and sins that pierced my dear Savior. But we are urged to come to our Father as we are in the name of Jesus Christ and repent. But what is repentance?
Repentance as we read in Steps to Christ is described as follow: “… when the heart yields to the influence of the Spirit of God, the conscience will be quickened, and the sinner will discern something of the depth and sacredness of God’s holy law… Conviction takes hold upon the mind and heart… The sinner has a sense of the righteousness of Jehovah and feels the terror of appearing, in his own guilt and uncleanness, before the Searcher of hearts. He sees the love of God, the beauty of holiness, the joy of purity; he longs to be cleansed and to be restored to communion with Heaven. SC 24.2
Our sins, according to God’s servant, Ellen G. White, “… have pierced…” (SC 27.1) our dear Creator and Savior. The angels’ loving Commander was hung on the cross because of our iniquities. We were the very ones who decided to disobey, to sin, and to choose death and yet our Father, in His ever infinite love, and long-suffering, sent His beloved Son to die for our sins.
… Christ must be revealed to the sinner as the Saviour dying for the sins of the world; and as we behold the Lamb of God upon the cross of Calvary, the mystery of redemption begins to unfold to our minds and the goodness of God leads us to repentance. In dying for sinners, Christ manifested a love that is incomprehensible; and as the sinner beholds this love, it softens the heart, impresses the mind, and inspires contrition in the soul. SC 26.4
Every act of transgression, every neglect or rejection of the grace of Christ, is reacting upon yourself; it is hardening the heart, depraving the will, benumbing the understanding, and not only making you less inclined to yield, but less capable of yielding, to the tender pleading of God’s Holy Spirit. SC 33.2
We all are sinners; let us realize our sins and repent. Do not shut the voice of the Holy Spirit talking to you. Open the door of your heart and “… I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20 KJV
