Do you know why we need to find brokenness at the cross when we look at the pierced One? Because if we found it at the Law, we would be overwhelmingly discouraged, broken beyond recovery. If I came to the hill of Mt. Sinai, where God gave the Law, I would be so overwhelmingly discouraged that I would be without hope.
But when we come to the hill of Mt. Calvary, we are broken, but simultaneously we are loved! We are discouraged, but we are encouraged. We are humbled, but we are lifted up. We are hurt over our sins, but we are healed at the same time. Oh, the cross! Oh, that blessed cross! How it brings me to my knees, brings me to tears, overwhelms my heart with love, love love! Jesus loved me unto death! Jesus loves me even now! Do you see it? Have you looked on Him whom you have pierced?
“A bleeding Savior I have viewed — and now I hate my sins!” John Newton
Question 5. As you contemplate the cross of Jesus Christ just now, what does it do for your own heart? Please describe:
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In this passage, 2 Corinthians 7:10, Paul compares godly sorrow with worldly sorrow. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, whereas worldly sorrow leads to death.
Worldly sorrow leads to death because it makes no changes in our lives. We might be sorry that we got caught, we might weep over being exposed, we might hurt over feeling like a failure, but we won’t change. And so as we press on in sin, living in deception and bondage, we move closer each day to death. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
Godly sorrow, on the other hand, is such a blessing to experience, and so is the resulting repentance. It brings life! When we get this sorrow and repentance, it changes everything:
Whereas once we were hardened and brittle, now we become humble and loving.
Whereas once we were deceived in sin, now we are delivered by the blood of Jesus.
Whereas once we were captivated by lust, now we are crucified with Christ.
Whereas once we tried to hide our sin, now we have openly confessed it, both to the Lord and those our sin has affected.
The sorrow and brokenness in our hearts that have flowed into us at the cross have led us to make vast and sweeping changes in our lives. It has led to salvation if we were unbelievers, and to sanctification as Christians.
Question 6. As you consider both godly sorrow and worldly sorrow, which do you believe you have at present? Why do you think this?
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