Good morning to all on this wonderful fall morning. Waine and I were sitting out having coffee this morning on our veranda and it was just wonderful. We returned from the Great Northwest last week and the weather was perfect. No rain and day time temps above 60. It could be my imagination but the air seemed more pure. Melanie and Don and their brood are doing fine. Melanie is in her element being the CEO of her business, Play Connections and the best find of all was that Vincent is no longer shy. He is quite the communicator and very sociable. Earl and Carol have a wonderful home with fresh berries and canned jams. The son Devon and his wife are quite accomplished and hosted a wonderful dinner for us on their new deck. We felt quite welcomed by our northwest clan and enjoyed our visit.
I am continuing my journey in Romans 5 verses 1 - 21, " Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we] boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have now received reconciliation.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned. To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the One Man the many will be made righteous. The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Amen and may God add a blessing to reading hearing of His Word.
What a powerful sermon Paul was giving. He truly understood the power of sin and the greater power in the redemption from sin through the obedience and sacrifice of Christ. I had never dwelled on the concept of being the enemy of God. When you stop and think about that it really humbles you. Who would want to be the enemy of God. He is so good and kind. He is the Father of all blessings; the thought that I, in my sin, was the enemy of God really saddens me. However, when you stop to think of what sin is--our ability to be our own god, you begin to put things into perspective. When we believe that we can lead our own lives, that we are good people, that we are moral people, we in essence are saying we can handle our own lives and how our life impacts others. We don't need God. How short sighted that is! Man has no concept of eternity. We are eternal beings but the vision and reality of eternity is withheld from us by God. Adam was an eternal being as was Eve. They understood what eternity was just like we know and have experienced what day is and what evening is. They got it! When they sinned and were cut off from eternity, they got that too! We have been so removed in time from that knowledge we now have folk who don't think there is an eternity. Sin has hardened our hearts so much we can't fathom an eternity. Eternity is real to Christians. We look forward to it. We know that we will cross that Great Divide one day and we will step off into the Garden just as God intended. We will not find any of God's enemies there.
The Great Question to all is whether you are God's enemy or not. Real simple and yet so hard but that is the crux of the whole equation. My hope is that as Christians our lives reflect the love of God and that this questioned can be shared with all that you meet.
To know Him is to love Him. To love Him is to serve Him. To serve Him is to love you. Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
Stephanie
No comments:
Post a Comment