I FOUND A QUOTE BY DANIEL WEBSTER, ON THE SPIRIT OF GOODNESS, WHERE HE SAID, “REAL GOODNESS DOES NOT ATTACH ITSELF MERELY TO THIS LIFE – IT POINTS TO ANOTHER WORLD. POLITICAL OR PROFESSIONAL REPUTATION CANNOT LAST FOREVER, BUT A CONSCIENCE VOID OF OFFENCE BEFORE GOD AND MAN IS AN INHERITANCE FOR ETERNITY.”
I BELIEVE I AM SAFE IN SAYING, THAT, AS CHRISTIANS, WE HAVE AN HONEST AND SINCERE DESIRE TO PLEASE GOD. WE HOPE THAT WHAT WE DO WITH OUR LIVES, HOW WE LIVE OUT OUR FAITH, AND HOW WE WORSHIP WILL ALL BE ACCEPTABLE TO GOD. I AM SURE WE ALSO HOPE THAT IN DOING THESE THINGS, WE DON’T MAKE HIM MAD OR UPSET WITH US IN ANY WAY. I CAN SEE WHY!
THERE ARE MANY ACCOUNTS IN THE BIBLE, WHERE WE SEE THAT ANGERING GOD HAD EITHER DEADLY OR VERY PUNISHING CONSEQUENCES SUCH AS BONDAGE OR LOSS OF BLESSINGS. WE WANT TO PLEASE GOD, BUT BECAUSE OF OUR SINFUL NATURE, THAT IS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE. THE BIBLE SHOWS A HISTORY THAT GOD’S PEOPLE REPEATEDLY UPSET GOD BY THEIR WAYWARDNESS, DISOBEDIENCE, AND BLENDING IN WITH THE WAYS OF THE WORLD.
AS HUMANS, WE CAN SOMETIMES MAKE A MESS OF THINGS, NOT JUST BECAUSE OF INHERITED SIN, BUT BY LIVING IN FEAR AS IF WE’VE DONE SOMETHING TO MAKE GOD MAD. IT SEEMS THAT THE MORE WE TRY TO FIX THINGS, THE MORE OF A MESS WE APPARENTLY SEEM TO MAKE. THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO!
AT FIRST, IT MAY SOUND HOPELESS, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT WE CAN’T DO ANYTHING BY OUR OWN WORK AND EFFORT TO TOTALLY AMEND FOR OUR SINS. BUT THE FACT STILL REMAINS: THERE IS HOPE! THERE IS HOPE BECAUSE GOD ALREADY HAD A PLAN IN PLACE TO TAKE CARE OF WHAT WE COULDN’T.
THE HOPE FOR US, THAT IS, GOD’S PLAN, IS HIS ONE AND ONLY SON, JESUS CHRIST! THIS HOPE…THIS PLAN… IS THE ULTIMATE EXPRESSION TO HUMANITY FROM GOD THAT HE IS MERCIFUL, UNCONDITIONALLY LOVING, AND JUSTIFIABLY FORGIVING AND ETERNALLY INVITING US TO COMMUNE WITH HIM IN AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP AS OUR GRACIOUS HEAVENLY FATHER.
THE BEAUTY OF ALL OF THIS IS THAT GOD, IN HIS LOVING MERCY INITIATED THE PLAN AND PAID THE PRICE TO MAKE THIS RELATIONSHIP WITH US POSSIBLE. HE INITIATED THIS PLAN AND PAID THE PRICE SO THAT WE WOULD NOT HAVE TO ENDURE THE FULL FORCE OF GOD’S UNFILTERED WRATH TOWARDS OUR SINS.
GOD IS HOLY AND HE EXPECTS US TO BE HOLY. SO, WHEN I SAY “WRATH” IT DOESN’T MEAN THAT GOD IS AN ANGRY, SMITING, AND PUNISHING DIETY THAT GETS PLEASURE DESTROYING THINGS AND KILLING PEOPLE FOR EVERY ACT OF DISOBEDIENCE.
THE QUICK LESSON HERE IS THAT WHEN WE SPEAK OF GOD’S WRATH, IT’S UNDERSTOOD AS A METAPHOR FOR HIS LOVE. AS HARD AS IT MAY BE TO COMPREHEND AT THIS VERY MOMENT, GOD’S WRATH IS AN EXPRESSION OF HIS LOVE.
LOOK AT IT THIS WAY: GOD’S WRATH IS SIMPLY HOW HIS LOVE FEELS WHEN WE EXPERIENCE IT IN SIN. IT IS NOT AN UNJUST, PUNITIVE STYLE OF JUSTICE, BUT A HEALING AND RESTORATIVE LOVE TO BRING US BACK TO HIM THROUGH REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS.
DESPITE OUR WICKEDNESS AND PRONE TO SINFULNESS, GOD ALWAYS RESPONDS IN LOVE TOWARDS EVERY SINFUL SITUAITION THAT HUMANITY CAN GET ITSELF INTO. GOD HAS ALWAYS WORKED THROUGH EVERY SITUATION BY HIS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE MADE EVIDENT BASED ON THE WORK OF JESUS CHRIST AND THE CROSS.
EPHESIANS 2:4-5, SAYS IT ALL: “BUT GOD IS SO RICH IN MERCY, AND HE LOVED US SO MUCH, THAT EVEN THOUGH WE WERE DEAD BECAUSE OF OUR SINS, HE GAVE US LIFE WHEN HE RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD.”
YES! GOD LOVES US SO MUCH, THAT INSTEAD OF TAKING OUT HIS WRATH UPON US (WHICH WE DESERVED) FOR OUR SINFULNESS, HE, INSTEAD, TOOK IT OUT ON HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST.
WE COULD NOT PAY SUCH A PENALTY. WE WOULD BE ANNIHILATED. WE HAVE NO MEANS TO WITHSTAND THAT INTENSITY OF WRATH AND WE HAVE NO WAY OF FULLY PAYING THE PRICE. WE ARE INCAPABLE OF SATISFYING THE DEBT PAYMENT FOR OUR SINS.
THAT IS WHY JOHN 3:16, SHOULD MAKE US FALL ON OUR FACES IN WORSHIP AND GRATITUDE FOR WHAT GOD THE FATHER, DID FOR US, THROUGH HIS SON JESUS BY MAKING HIM THE SUPREME SACRIFICE TO ABSORB THE FULL PENALTY ON OUR BEHALF. AS THAT BELOVED PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE STATES: “FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONE AND ONLY SON, THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.”
GOD ACTED ON BEHALF OF ALL HUMANITY. HE KNEW WE HAD NO WAY OF MAKING RESTITUTION FOR OUR SINFULNESS. HE KNEW HIS SON, JESUS, WAS THE ONLY WAY TO TAKE CARE OF OUR “SIN PROBLEM” BY PAYING THE PRICE FOR US.
THE “FANCY WORD” WE USE FOR THIS IS “PROPITIATION.” THE WORD BASICALLY MEANS “THE REMOVAL OF WRATH BY OFFERING A GIFT.” THE OFFERING OF THE “GIFT” WAS THE ONLY WAY OF AVERTING ANGER. THIS “GIFT” WAS, OF COURSE, JESUS THE SON OF GOD, SHEDDING HIS BLOOD AS A SACRIFICE FOR US ON THE CROSS.
ROMANS 3:23-25, TELLS US, “SINCE ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD; THEY ARE NOW JUSTIFIED BY HIS GRACE AS A GIFT, THROUGH THE REDEMPTION THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS, WHOM GOD PUT FORWARD AS A PROPITIATION BY HIS BLOOD, EFFECTIVE THROUGH FAITH.”
HEBREWS 2:17, ABOUT THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS, SAYS “HE HAD TO BE MADE LIKE HIS BRETHREN IN EVERY RESPECT, SO THAT HE MIGHT BECOME A MERCIFUL AND FAITHFUL HIGH PRIEST IN THE SERVICE OF GOD, TO MAKE PROPITIATION FOR THE SINS OF THE PEOPLE.”
1 JOHN 2:2, IS ALSO POWERFUL, REMINDING US THAT “…IF ANYONE SINS, WE HAVE AN ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER, JESUS CHRIST THE RIGHTEOUS. AND HE HIMSELF IS THE PROPITIATION FOR OUR SINS, AND NOT FOR OURS ONLY BUT ALSO FOR THE WHOLE WORLD.”
1 JOHN 4:9-10, “IN THIS THE LOVE OF GOD WAS MANIFESTED TOWARD US, THAT GOD HAS SENT HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON INTO THE WORLD, THAT WE MIGHT LIVE THROUGH HIM. IN THIS IS LOVE, NOT THAT WE LOVED GOD, BUT THAT HE LOVED US AND SENT HIS SON TO BE THE PROPITIATION FOR OUR SINS.”
I BELIEVE THIS WHAT MAKES THE BELOVED HYMN “JESUS PAID IT ALL” SO MOVING TO SING. I LIKE VERSE FOUR: “AND WHEN, BEFORE THE THRONE, I STAND IN HIM COMPLETE, ‘JESUS DIED MY SOUL TO SAVE,’ MY LIPS SHALL STILL REPEAT. JESUS PAID IT ALL; ALL TO HIM I OWE; SIN HAD LEFT A CRIMSON STAIN; HE WASHED IT WHITE AS SNOW.”
MY FRIEND, GOD HAS GONE TO GREAT LENGTHS TO SAVE YOU AND TO MAKE FORGIVENESS FOR ALL YOUR SINS POSSIBLE. THIS IS ALL A GIFT. YOU MUST WILLINGLY REACH OUT AND ACCEPT THIS GIFT BY ACKNOWLEDGING WHAT CHRIST DID FOR YOU ON THE CROSS. YOU MUST CONFESS YOUR SINS AND ASK TO BE FORGIVEN. YOU MUST PLACE YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST AND CALL UPON HIS NAME TO BE SAVED….BORN AGAIN…ADOPTED INTO THE FAMILY OF GOD.
THERE IS NOTHING ELSE YOU CAN DO! WILLIAM TEMPLE WROTE: “THE ONLY THING THAT A MAN CAN CONTRIBUTE TO HIS REDEMTPTION IS THE SIN FROM WHICH HE NEEDS TO BE REDEEMED.”
EPHESIANS 2:8, IS CLEAR: “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.”
SALVATION IS NOT EARNED. SALVATION IS NOT TO BE SEEN AS AN “AWARD” FOR BEING A GOOD, HONEST LAW-ABIDING CITIZEN. SALVATION IS NOT TO BE ASSUMED JUST FOR COMPLETING YOUR DENOMINATION’S CONFIRMATION OR A CATACHISM CLASS. I THINK YOU GET THE POINT.
LET’S FACE IT: NONE OF US COULD EVER BE GOOD ENOUGH TO PLEASE A HOLY GOD. HE CASTS ASIDE ALL HUMAN EFFORT AND PRIDE BY OFFERING SALVATION FOR FREE TO ALL PEOPLE BY SIMPLE ACCEPTANCE. REMEMBER! IT IS A GIFT! THE PRICE HAS ALREADY BEEN PAID BY JESUS! PEOPLE ARE GIVEN SALVATION ON THE GROUNDS OF GOD’S GRACE ALONE. I ALWAYS LOVE TO ASK THIS QUESTION: DO YOU NEED TO GET CLEANED UP IN ORDER TO TAKE A BATH? ABSOLUTELY NOT! YOU GET INTO THE BATH DIRTY…WITH THE INTENT TO COME OUT CLEAN!
YOU CAN NEVER GET TOO DIRTY FOR GOD TO WASH YOU CLEAN! I THINK TOO MANY PEOPLE LIVE IN FEAR THAT THEY ARE TOO DIRTY AND HAVE UTTERLY FAILED GOD. THEY BECOME FRIGHTENED THAT MAYBE THEY ARE TOO FAR GONE TO GO TO HEAVEN…THAT IT’S TOO LATE AND GOD WON’T FORGIVE THEM.
HOWEVER, THAT IS JUST THE PLACE WHERE GOD’S GRACE SAVES US! THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT THERE IS NO BETTER TIME FOR GOD TO SAVE YOU THAN IN THAT CONDITION! ROMANS 5:8, REMINDS US “GOD SHOWED HIS GREAT LOVE FOR US BY SENDING CHRIST TO DIE FOR US WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS.”
WILL YOU COME TO GOD AND RECEIVE HIS GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH CHRIST TODAY? THEN ACCEPT HIS GIFT OF SALVATION AND BE BORN AGAIN RIGHT NOW! HAVE YOU BACKED OFF FROM GOD AND GROWN COLD? THEN COME AS GOD WILL GLADLY WELCOME YOU BACK HOME.
I LEAVE YOU WITH A QUOTE FROM BLAISE PASCAL WHO SAID: “IF I LIVE MY LIFE LIKE THERE IS A GOD, AND FIND IN THE END THAT THERE ISN’T, I HAVE GAINED MUCH AND LOST LITTLE. BUT IF I LIVE MY LIFE LIKE THERE ISN’T A GOD, AND FIND OUT IN THE END THAT THERE IS, I’VE GAINED LITTLE AND LOST EVERYTHING.”
JESUS IS OUR “PROPITIATION”….HE, IN OBEDIENCE TO THE FATHER, ACCEPTED OUR PUNISHMENT AND PAID THE PRICE FOR OUR SINS SO THAT WE WOULD NOT HAVE TO PERISH AND SPEND OUR ETERNITY SEPARATED…APART FROM GOD.
ACTS 2:21, BUT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” WILL YOU ACCEPT THE GIFT OF HIS GRACE, BY FAITH, AND HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE WITH GOD IN HIS HEAVENLY KINGDOM? WILL YOU DO THAT, TODAY?
