Hebrews 10: 2
Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?
This is a discussion about sin consciousness versus righteousness consciousness. The author of Hebrews contrasts the sacrifices of old with the sacrifice of Jesus. The Old Testament sacrifices were not able to completely erase the sin stain which is why sacrifices had to be made every year. The sacrifice of the perfect, unblemished lamb, however, has once and for all, cleansed the saints, completely removing even the smell of former sin. This author writes that we have been made perfect by the sacrifice Jesus made, “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Hebrews 10: 14). That is you. You are the one who has been cleansed, sanctified and perfected. Because of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice, even the memory of our sin has been blotted from God’s memory. If we are cleansed, then, we should “no longer have . . . consciousness of sins.” But we do, don’t we.
Here is where the idea of moving the camera comes into play. Imagine yourself as a major Hollywood director. The actors are on the set, all is in readiness and you tell the camera operator to begin filming the scene. At the end of the scene you realize that the placement of the camera tells a different story than the one you intended to convey so you shift the camera just a little and eureka, an entirely different tableau is revealed. This is what we have to do with sin, forgiveness and our consciousness of each.
If we have the camera positioned on ourselves all of the time, our failures, sins, short-comings and brokenness are going to play like a melodrama if not a horror story. However, we can move the camera. So take your camera and shift it until Jesus is in the frame. What do you see now? What kind of movie will that camera shift make? It should be an adventure movie of heroic proportions where the hero saves the day and saves the lives of every person. It is Superman on steroids. Our hero saves us and even blots out the thoughts of the calamity which loomed so heavily before us. The difference in watching a film where we are poor sinners and one where we are saved is all in moving the camera just a tic. We change so that the lens is no longer focused on us but rather on Jesus and that makes all the difference in the world.
I find this teeter-totter between sin consciousness and righteousness consciousness to be a bit like the old glass half empty/half full proverb. Half empty people are focusing on themselves and what they see would frighten anyone. Glass half full people have abandoned their close-up for a shot of Jesus. When we focus on him and what he has done, it becomes ludicrous if not insulting for us to talk about our sins or even remember them. We have all failed. That is a fact. But the bigger and controlling fact is that Jesus took away all of our failures and laid them at the foot of the cross. Unless you are so important that your sin is bigger and more important than Jesus, then you have permission today to be completely free from every sin your ever committed. You have been cleansed. If Jesus cleansed you, why do you keep looking at yourself as dirty?
It’s all about him and what he has done. You have never done anything big enough to eclipse his victory. You have been sanctified and perfected by Christ so your thoughts should no longer be about YOUR sin, but rather about HIS righteousness. You should embrace righteousness consciousness and leave sin consciousness behind. It is an affront to the blood of Christ. All you have to do is to move your camera just a bit. Put Jesus in the frame and he will put you in his glory.
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