I want us to look at this other question. Why does the resurrection matter? What difference does it make? We're talking about News You Can Use. So what if Jesus is who He said He was? What does it mean to me in southern Orange County USA?

It means three things. Because Jesus is who He claimed to be and because He has the power He claimed to have and because Jesus does what He promises to do...

1. My Past Can Be Forgiven

And that's good news. Have you ever been half way through a project and wish you could start over? Like painting the house or whatever? A lot of times I think people feel that way about life. They get half way through life and just wish they could start over. We all have things we wish we hadn't done and said things we wish we hadn't said, thought things we wish we hadn't thought. We all have regrets. We all feel bad about things. We all have guilt.

I was watching a Columbo rerun the other night. Johnny Cash was the bad guy. When Columbo figures it all out and pulls the trap, Cash, when he finally admits he was the murderer says, "I'm glad I don't have to pretend any more. The guilt was killing me."

A fellow pastor received this letter, "I'm 31 years old and divorced, though I fought the divorce bitterly. I feel badly. I have no hope for my future. Often I go home and cry but there's no one holding me when I cry. Nobody cares. Nothing changes and I continue to fail. I'm stressed out emotionally and I feel I'm on the verse of a collapse. Something is very wrong. But I feel so hurt and embittered that I can scarcely react or relate to others any more. I feel as if I'm going to have to sit out the rest of my life in the penalty box."

The tragedy is, I know a lot of people like that. They can't get on with the present and the future because they're stuck in the past. Some guilt or regret or something has tied them down. Sometimes it's a former relationship and they're letting it mess up their current relationship. That's not too smart. They say, "I guess I'll just have to live with this the rest of my life." And they're running around with this baggage -- emotional garbage -- trying to live life and they're wondering why they're not happy.

Colossians 3:14 is the good news. "He has forgiven all our sins and canceled every record of the debt we owed. Christ has done away with it by nailing it to the cross." This is God's pardon program. He says He nailed it all to the cross. Jesus paid for my guilt. That means I don't have to pay for it. He was hung for my hang ups. Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross so I can quit nailing myself to the cross. He wants to forgive your past.

He says He wants to cancel every record of all debts you owe -- emotional debts, relational debts, sins. Canceled. How long do you remember a bill that's been paid? I don't remember it at all. Once it's paid, I forget it. I think the point He's saying is this: Once God's forgiven it, I can forget it. That's good news! Even if there were no such thing as a heaven or hell -- and there is -- but if there weren't it would be worth it to become a Christian just to have a clear conscience, just knowing that I am free from all those things I've done wrong. That's the good news.