Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker
After graduating from business college, I began working as a secretarial receptionist. I typed a lot of specs and documents, so it was annoying when I made a mistake and had to brush on the white correction fluid and wait for it to dry. In 1980, I moved to Kansas and was employed at The Western where I used an IBM Selectric II correcting typewriter. I was so happy that someone brilliant had finally designed a built-in correction feature. I thought it was the best invention since high heels! Whenever I misspelled a word, all I had to do was hit the backup key, retype the wrong letter, then type the right letter and all was made right. It was just as if I’d never messed up. Even though I aimed for perfection, it was impossible to perfectly type every single document in a workday.
The heartbeat of God is to free us from our sins and baggage so that’s why He sent Jesus to clean, correct, and restore our flawed lives. He welcomes the bruised and crushed of humanity to come to Him for restoration. “…Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18 NKJV). The Samaritan woman at the well, who’d been married five times, didn‘t cause Jesus to bat an eye or raise an eyebrow. When she believed and placed her faith in the Messiah, she immediately became the first female evangelist in her village. Many broken people came to believe in Christ because of her life-changing testimony. Jesus used, and still uses, some of the most-controversial individuals for His work and purposes.
Apostle Peter lied and denied, then quickly repented and was forgiven and restored. Saul/Paul persecuted, imprisoned, and approved of stoning Christians. But he stopped doing that when the light of Jesus landed him flat on the Damascus road. Jesus takes the most unlikely and makes them likely. In season 1, episode 7 of The Chosen, Jesus turns to Peter and says, “Get used to different.” Jesus didn’t come to admire the outward pretenses of a person, He came to clean the dirty insides of a person. Jesus came to love, forgive, and restore sinful and defective people and put them to work in the Kingdom of God.
Jesus specializes in picking up people and turning them around. He cast seven demons out of Mary Magdalene and she was miraculously freed from bondage and restored to her right mind. She became one of the faithful women who traveled and supported Jesus’ ministry and she’s mentioned in all four of the gospels. Her previous life may have been the worst, but Jesus made sure that Mary Magdalene was the first to see Him on resurrection morning. She is a beautiful example of a godly woman whose life was poured out in gratitude for God’s extravagant love, mercy, and grace. From the worst to the first — that’s how the Master of the Universe works. Jesus entrusted Mary of Magdala with the awesome assignment of telling the grieving disciples, “He’s alive!”
Jesus is the only true correction tape for the world. A simple definition of “justification” is “just as if I’d never sinned.” When we believe in Jesus as Savior, God pardons, cleanses, and acquits us from condemnation. Justification is a gift of grace; not a result of human effort. Jesus died and rose again; He paid it all so we can be clean and free. “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin” (Romans 4:7,8 NLT.)
The Key: Our faith in Jesus’ sacrifice makes us right in God’s sight (ref Romans 5:1.)