The Jewish people are still living in great anticipation of the coming of the Messiah. They really believe that He’s about to come and even if He tarries, they will wait. So Jesus came to Jerusalem, but Jerusalem was not ready. That explains, of course, why Jesus said, “Jerusalem you’ve missed your visitation.”

Wow. What is a visitation? A visitation is when someone comes for a short period and leaves later. That’s a visitation. The Jewish people, Jerusalem, this city, missed the idea that Messiah has to come first as a suffering servant of the Lord, as a Passover lamb, as the lamb that carries the sins of the world. He has to be slaughtered, He has to bear upon Himself the affliction, and the sins, and the transgressions of the entire world.

As Isaiah 53 says, “All of us have gone astray, each and every one of us turned to his own way, but the Lord laid upon Him the iniquities and the transgressions of us all.”

We have all heard a story or seen a movie with the scenario of an unknown or long-lost rich relative who left a fortune to their last surviving relative, and that heir’s life was changed dramatically. Many also know of the feeling of receiving a notice from a financial institution that reads: Paid in Full. We also know that the greater the debt, the greater the sense of relief when that notification comes.

That one single event changes everything about how you live and experience life, especially if the debt was a huge burden. Stress levels are reduced, the ritual of monthly payments comes to an end, and extra effort to pay off that burdensome debt also ceases.

Imagine having a debt that is so large it could never be paid in full, no matter how may hours you work or years you pay on the debt.

This is what Jesus came to do for us all, and yet:

John 1:11-13 KJV – “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Jesus came and paid the personally unpayable and unimaginable sin-debt of all mankind. Yet, His own, fellow Jews by and large, said, “We’ll just keep doing the works of the law and wait for someone else to come along.” Many are doing much the same thing today, thinking they can work off their sin debt through works and good moral behavior. They’ve missed the Messiah, just like most Jews.

Isaiah 53:6 KJV – “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

To follow our very simple analogy, the bill for our sin was sent to Jesus. He marked it, in His own blood, “Paid in Full”. If your debt is paid in full, you don’t keep sending in payments. Instead, you begin to live a debt-free life. You don’t strain to make ends meet after they have already been met, you don’t wish for someone else to come along to do what has already been done.

Yet many, including the Jews, do just that. To many Jews, that means trying to keep the law. To other religions, it means bowing to an idol. To some, it means living so that one’s good works will outweigh the bad. All of these are efforts to accomplish something that has already been done.

It is also true that many Christians who have received Him, fail to live in the fullness of debt-free living. Some today are even trying to put the church back under the Mosaic law, seeking to convince Christians that we are under the obligation to keep Sabbaths, New Moons, and Feast Days, and live like the unsaved Jews.

Ephesians 2:8-10 KJV – “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Are good works part of the Christian life? Yes! But they are done out of adoration not obligation. We’re not trying to earn what we’ve already been given. We should be trying to convince others that they, too, can be “sin debt-free”.

John 16:33 KJV – “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

The great thing about being “sin debt-free” is it changes how you view and handle the negative things of life that come your way. None of them are pleasurable and all of them are undesirable, yet we are blessed to know that “all things work together for good for those who love God and are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)  

Having our sin account marked “paid in full” also creates clarity about the future. The Jews are still looking for the Messiah to come, and, sadly, someone actually is coming that they will follow. But he won’t be who he says he is or who they think he is. He will be the anti-messiah.

John 8:36 KJV – “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

If you’re waiting for a long lost or unknown relative to die and leave you a massive fortune, it is very unlikely that it will ever happen. However, a debt far greater than anyone can accumulate financially has been paid in full by the blood of the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.

You are “sin debt-free” and don’t have to wait for someone to come along and do what’s already been done. In Christ you are already free indeed!

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.

The Jewish people are still living in great anticipation of the coming of the Messiah. They really believe that He’s about to come and even if He tarries, they will wait. So Jesus came to Jerusalem, but Jerusalem was not ready. That explains, of course, why Jesus said, “Jerusalem you’ve missed your visitation.”

Wow. What is a visitation? A visitation is when someone comes for a short period and leaves later. That’s a visitation. The Jewish people, Jerusalem, this city, missed the idea that Messiah has to come first as a suffering servant of the Lord, as a Passover lamb, as the lamb that carries the sins of the world. He has to be slaughtered, He has to bear upon Himself the affliction, and the sins, and the transgressions of the entire world.

As Isaiah 53 says, “All of us have gone astray, each and every one of us turned to his own way, but the Lord laid upon Him the iniquities and the transgressions of us all.”

We have all heard a story or seen a movie with the scenario of an unknown or long-lost rich relative who left a fortune to their last surviving relative, and that heir’s life was changed dramatically. Many also know of the feeling of receiving a notice from a financial institution that reads: Paid in Full. We also know that the greater the debt, the greater the sense of relief when that notification comes.

That one single event changes everything about how you live and experience life, especially if the debt was a huge burden. Stress levels are reduced, the ritual of monthly payments comes to an end, and extra effort to pay off that burdensome debt also ceases.

Imagine having a debt that is so large it could never be paid in full, no matter how may hours you work or years you pay on the debt.

This is what Jesus came to do for us all, and yet:

John 1:11-13 KJV – “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Jesus came and paid the personally unpayable and unimaginable sin-debt of all mankind. Yet, His own, fellow Jews by and large, said, “We’ll just keep doing the works of the law and wait for someone else to come along.” Many are doing much the same thing today, thinking they can work off their sin debt through works and good moral behavior. They’ve missed the Messiah, just like most Jews.

Isaiah 53:6 KJV – “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

To follow our very simple analogy, the bill for our sin was sent to Jesus. He marked it, in His own blood, “Paid in Full”. If your debt is paid in full, you don’t keep sending in payments. Instead, you begin to live a debt-free life. You don’t strain to make ends meet after they have already been met, you don’t wish for someone else to come along to do what has already been done.

Yet many, including the Jews, do just that. To many Jews, that means trying to keep the law. To other religions, it means bowing to an idol. To some, it means living so that one’s good works will outweigh the bad. All of these are efforts to accomplish something that has already been done.

It is also true that many Christians who have received Him, fail to live in the fullness of debt-free living. Some today are even trying to put the church back under the Mosaic law, seeking to convince Christians that we are under the obligation to keep Sabbaths, New Moons, and Feast Days, and live like the unsaved Jews.

Ephesians 2:8-10 KJV – “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Are good works part of the Christian life? Yes! But they are done out of adoration not obligation. We’re not trying to earn what we’ve already been given. We should be trying to convince others that they, too, can be “sin debt-free”.

John 16:33 KJV – “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

The great thing about being “sin debt-free” is it changes how you view and handle the negative things of life that come your way. None of them are pleasurable and all of them are undesirable, yet we are blessed to know that “all things work together for good for those who love God and are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)  

Having our sin account marked “paid in full” also creates clarity about the future. The Jews are still looking for the Messiah to come, and, sadly, someone actually is coming that they will follow. But he won’t be who he says he is or who they think he is. He will be the anti-messiah.

John 8:36 KJV – “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

If you’re waiting for a long lost or unknown relative to die and leave you a massive fortune, it is very unlikely that it will ever happen. However, a debt far greater than anyone can accumulate financially has been paid in full by the blood of the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.

You are “sin debt-free” and don’t have to wait for someone to come along and do what’s already been done. In Christ you are already free indeed!

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.