Never Forget, Remember!

There are many things in God’s word that we must remember. These are the promises and character descriptions of God that will carry us through the tough times in life. In this series, “Remember” we will be looking at some of these important things. So let’s start by remembering the main promise that God made to us and followed through to see it come to completion. That is of course the sacrifice that Jesus made for us all.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NKJV

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

1. We must remember what Jesus did for us!

Every time we take communion we are doing a memorial service for Jesus. Now this is not in the sense of a funeral, it is a memorial to remember what Jesus did for us. We are celebrating Memorial Day this month when we remember those that gave their lives for us as nation. But when we remember Jesus we are not doing a memorial because He died, we are doing a memorial to remember that He’s alive and He paid the price for our sins. We remember that His body was broken for us. He took the beating that was meant for us and stood in the gap for us. Then we remember He shed His blood for us so that our sins would be forgiven once and for all. This is what we remember and it is awesome! Jesus did it all for us. We could never have done it on our own. We must remember that.

Hebrews 10:4–10 NLT

4 For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer. 6 You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin. 7 Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me in the Scriptures.’ ” 8 First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses). 9 Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. 10 For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.

2. We must remember that Jesus was the only sacrifice that made eternal life possible!

Again there was no way for mankind to make a way back into right standing with God on our own. The sacrifices that were offered in the old testament could never pay for our sins. They could cover them for a very short period of time but only the blood of Jesus washes away our sins. That precious blood of Jesus that was shed for us on the cross, instated the New Covenant. Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law, Old Covenant and therefore could put the New Covenant into effect. So you could say the New Covenant became effective the day Jesus shed His blood and rose from the dead. We must remember that!

Matthew 19:16–26 NIV

16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” 20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

3. We must remember that there is nothing impossible for God!

Now there are many things that are not possible with man. We cannot even control the weather, let alone who gets into heaven. If you and I are really honest with ourselves, there is very little that pertains to life that is possible with man. That is why it’s so great to know that nothing, absolutely nothing, is impossible for God. In fact, Jesus tells us here that all things are possible with God. I have to constantly remind myself about that because if I focus on the circumstances around me, it’s easy to convince myself that this will never change. Yes, it might be impossible for me but all things are possible for God, and I must remember that.

2 Timothy 2:8–10 NIV

8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

4. Remember it’s all about Jesus!

Our lives are to be a billboard of the things that Jesus did no matter how tough it gets. Look at what Paul says to Timothy, even though I’m in chains, the Word of God can never be chained. It doesn’t matter that people get mad at you for sharing Jesus, the fact remains that Jesus died for all mankind, and rose from the dead to save us and to allow us to be reconciled with God so we can spend eternity with Him. We need to remember that!