Scripture
He will again have compassion on us; he will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
~Micah 7:19, CSB
Quote
Education informs, the world conforms, prisons reform, sin deforms but only Christ can transform.
~Adrian Rogers
I am liking the CSB more and more; the word vanquish in the text tonight is the Hebrew word ‘kabash’ and it means to subdue, to bring into subjection, bring into bondage, to keep in subjection by sheer force. To my knowledge, the CSB is the only version that translates it ‘vanquish’. The overwhelming majority translate it ‘tread under His feet.’ The KJV translates it subdue but I like VANQUISH. The old hymn Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus came to mind:
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high his royal banner, It must not suffer loss.
From victory unto victory, His army shall he lead,
Till every foe is vanquished, And Christ is Lord indeed.
Lift high his royal banner, It must not suffer loss.
From victory unto victory, His army shall he lead,
Till every foe is vanquished, And Christ is Lord indeed.
Is that great or what: the entire song has taken on a new meaning. Our sins are more than we can handle. A broken hearted parent called me a few weeks ago about a child that had gotten addicted to drugs; she said, “We thought we could handle it but we have found out that we can’t.” I will tell you what told her, no one is big enough to handle the drug problem and no one has enough money to handle it either. If you want something to make you feel small, get involved in drug rehab. But it is not just drugs, it is sin in general: we can’t handle our sin. First of all, we have a fallen sinful nature and our natural inclination is to sin. How is a sinner going to help a sinner? Even after we get saved and have a desire not to sin, we still slip up and yield to our flesh from time to time. How many times have you vowed not to do a certain thing again and yet you do it again. Speaking of the final judgment and the sins of Babylon, John wrote...For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. The unrepentant Babylon {World} rejected Christ and refused to repent so God will remember her sins and they are piled as high as heaven. You may thing you are pretty good but if you knew all your sins, it would stagger you; the shear weight of your sins would crush you just as it did Jesus.I remember preaching class in Seminary. It was the first time I had ever been video tapped. I had no idea what I looked or sounded like. Then the entire class watches the video and they critique you. I knew I made some mistakes but after seeing the video, it was horrifying. My professor noticed my discouragement and took me aside and encouraged me not to give up. Listen folks, I entertain no illusion that my good outweighs my bad, that is insanity but the good news is this: Jesus took all my sin and shame upon His own person to the cross and there God passed judgment on it once and forever. I believe that Jesus has the power to vanquish my sin. I couldn’t handle my sin but praise God He could and did. Yeah, yeah, I know, sin is still present in my life and in this world but it is just a matter of time until Jesus says ‘kabosh’ and every foe will be vanquished and Christ will be LORD indeed. O hallelujah, O what a Savior.
