Lesson 40 Washing at the Cross: Jesus Removed the Poison of Sin
Questions 6 and 7
Notice that the people heard Elisha’s solution, “get some flour.” But they had to believe it and act on it. They could have said, “get some flour? That’s ridiculous; it’s too easy of a solution. We need to dig deep into the stew, discover the actual gourd that was poisonous and remove it.”
No, that wouldn’t have worked. Instead, they had to hear the good news, that there was a solution to the “death in the pot,” believe it and act on it.
The same is true for you and I today, friend. You have heard that the cross is your solution, now you must put faith in the message, and you must reject all other messages from all other sources.
Notice this passage: “The Good News was preached to us just as it was to them. But the teaching they heard did not help them, because they heard it but did not accept it with faith” (Hebrews 4:2 NCV).
Why was the gospel of no value to the Israelites? Because they did not believe it. Please do not let this be you! Believe the message! Put all your hope and faith in God, who gave you this good news!
Dear friend, I do hope and pray that you’ll remember this story of the poisonous stew. I hope that you’ll remember the futility of merely trying to get rid of sin.
Instead, I hope you’ll remember the power of the gospel; how Jesus came to the earth and drew all our sin to Himself on the cross, and left us with eternal life and a living hope (1 Peter 1:3), and how He “added in” the Holy Spirit to us who now fills our hearts with love and joy (Ephesians 3:18-19).
Doug writes, "The cross draws the poison of sin in our lives and Jesus died to make us righteous before God, and now we have the Holy Spirit to fill our heart with love and joy. We now have eternal life and a living hope."