Seeing is Believing

I like to walk into the backyard at night. We don't have many street lights, so it's fairly dark back there. We have these two huge oak trees that tower over you, as to say they are much bigger than you. I enjoy looking up at their branches and looking past them to see the stars and, when it's out, the moon. In that quiet moment, God sets my mind on Him. This is where it usually goes...

19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:19-20)

God's eternal power and divine nature can be seen in all of his creation. He has shown it to us ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.

In the above passage and through out the rest of chapter one through chapter three, Paul is making his case to the Roman believers that all of mankind stands condemned before God. Even if they have never heard the gospel before, they still are guilty because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. So they are without excuse. That's why Paul is so eager to go to the gentiles who have never heard the gospel. Paul knows that "just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned" (Romans 5:12). Paul tells us in chapter 3:10-12 that "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."

But there is hope. The scripture tells us in Romans 5:18-21

as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We are all sinners and our greatest need is to be restored back into fellowship with a living God by repenting of our sins and believing in Jesus Christ. Our hope is definitely not found in ourselves, family, marriages, children, jobs, our stuff, etc. It is found in the one who was obedient and righteous. It is found in the one who absorbed the wrath of God, so that we may be called sons and daughters. It is found in the one who was resurrected from death and now sits at the right hand of God and whom all authority belongs in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

It is found in Jesus Christ!

 

your word is truth

If you have stumbled upon this blog, my hope is that you find some value in reading or perhaps time not wasted.

Over the past years, I have come to realize the importance of scripture in the lives of believers. It is central, along with the Holy Spirit, to the christian faith and vital for growth and maturity in Christ. Paul writes in his second letter to Timothy 3:16 that "all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." In Luke 11:27-28, we read about a woman yelling out in the crowds to Jesus saying "blessed is the womb that bore you and the breast at which you nursed!" Christ responds, "blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" Then in John 17:17, the high priestly prayer, we see that our King prayed for us to the Father, saying "sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth."

If this is what we proclaim, that the word of God will sanctify us. That it is used to teach, correct, rebuke, and train us in righteousness. That it is absolutely true. Then why don't we allow it to govern every facet of our lives? Why do we allow the traditions of our culture to dictate what we believe to be true, when Proverbs 30:5 states that "every word of God proves true." Why do we wait to hear it from our pastors on Wednesday and Sundays, rather than reading it and studying it ourselves so that we can make it our own. Could it be that we are afraid of what we may find if we take the shovel and begin digging for ourselves rather than handing it off to someone else. Perhaps!

What I'm not saying is to hide in a closet and never seek counsel or come under the teaching of scripture. What I am saying is that don't let the only time you feast be when others feed you. Learn to eat from the bread of life yourself, so that you will make it your own, "just as Christ made you his own." Allow the word of God to govern every facet of life, since it's what we know to be true.

What we find in the scriptures about our pagan selves is ugly and very disturbing, but what we also find in scripture is our source of life and faith and power and hope and freedom and wisdom and comfort and assurance and victory over our greatest enemy.