Part 6 - Genesis 18:16-33 - CRASHED AND BURNED!
CRASHED AND BURNED! All my computer files from the last 10 years gone! No full back-ups so no way of retrieving it all. It seems I have lived the last 10 years on the ASSUMPTION that computers last forever, just keep adding data to them. Not so! Happened to me once before and I was devastated. This time I was not about to go into emotional meltdown over a computer. I PRAYED and by grace God helped a friend of mine retrieve a sizeable amount of data - 100 GB - whatever that means. SAVED!
CRASHED AND BURNED! Without a back-up plan! And only a REMNANT SAVED due to the PRAYER OF ABRAHAM. No, I'm not talking about computers anymore. I'm talking about SODOM and it's cities. I'm talking about JUDGMENT and the JUSTICE of God. You know, the kind of judgment that the Bible talks about when we reject God. When we think we can leave God out of our lives on the assumption that we are living a pretty GOOD LIFE and besides "HOW CAN A LOVING GOD SEND PEOPLE TO HELL?" That kind of ASSUMPTION! And not even a back-up plan. DEVASTATING! Predictable but devastating.
In Genesis 18:17 God is about to re-establish His covenant promises with Abraham and also remove Sodom and Gomorrah from the face of the earth. Surprisingly He says "Should I hide my plan from Abraham?" (NLT). Why does God share His plan with Abraham? I think it was because Abraham responded to the Lord appropriately with BELIEF, SACRIFICE AND SERVICE. Those who get to know God will begin to KNOW HIS WILL.
When God's messengers turn up in Sodom, the men of Sodom didn't treat their guests with anything but ABUSE. Their eyes were BLINDED to the truth. Sodom was more concerned with fulfilling their own lustful desires in the moment. Abraham on the other hand was a man who would THINK GENERATIONALLY and raise a family who would stem the tide of evil in the world by "doing what is right and just" (Genesis 18:19).
God has already said to Abraham "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you" (Genesis 12:1-3), and He is about to give Abraham a graphic example of what that meant ultimately for those who reject the ways of the Lord. The WAGES OF SIN really is.... Romans 6:23.
Ezekiel 33:11 (NLT) says, "As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. ...Why should you die?"
In Genesis 18:22 there is still HOPE for Sodom as Abraham stands in the gap. God's righteousness as well as His justice walked towards Sodom that day while His grace conversed with Abraham.
If Abraham was to do what is right and just, then he would need to know how to INTERCEDE for the people who were lost spiritually.
Ominously Genesis 18:22 says, "The other men turned and headed toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham."
2 Peter 3:9 (NLT) says "The Lord isn't really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent."
Did Sodom deserve judgment? Yes! And as a matter of fact I do too! It's only by God's grace that I am saved.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says "God saved you by His grace WHEN YOU BELIEVED. And you CAN'T TAKE CREDIT for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it."
God bless you Church as God lingers with you to speak of grace and as He relentlessly walks towards to fulfilling all His promises.
CRASH AND BURN! No way of retrieving what is lost! It seems I can live my life with false assumptions which have devastating consequences, or like the data on my computer I can be SAVED BY GRACE.
Pastor Ross
