Do you recall the wonderdul day when your son or daughter was born? I do. It was July 3rd 2006. The whole event gave me a new perspective of the distinctiveness of a Holy God. At the hospital later on that night on July 3rd me and my wife were taking full advantage of the free meals. I am paying a fortune a month for health insurance, so you better believe that I better not have a hungry tummy while in the hospital. Needless to say we ate well both days.
Anyway I recall the day a couple of months later when we had a baby dedication(not baptism) at my old church and how googly everyone was feeling inside. What if while you were at the altar the wolf or Pastor(depending where you go to church) asked you to kill your baby for one of your enemies in the congregation????? Would that not make you take your son and run out of the church and say Hades no!!!!!!!! Check this out though, this is what God did for us. Yes it is.
Romans 5:6-21
6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Colossians 1
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight-- (Emphasis added)23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
We were enemies of God totally depraved and without the divine work of the Holy Spirit we would still be dead in our trespasses and sins. Apostle Paul makes this clear to the gentile, jew, and person who thinks they are a good in Romans chapters 1, 2, & 3.
Ephesians 2
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
Wow we were by nature objects of wrath. I don't know about you but that makes me want to just thank Him more and more. Why would a just God send His Son to die for me? God took the punishment for your sins even though he led a sinless life on this Earth. That is the type of love that us humans are trying to obtain in this earth but I believe that this type of love is definitely divine. More scripture:
Romans 5:7
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
How about a brain twister? Here is some Antinomical Confusion. For those of you who like to think. Let me define antinomical-a contradiction between two statements, both apparently obtained by correct reasoning. This is something to ponder. I have been reading The Sovereignty of God and Evangelism by J.I.Packer. It has been stretching my vocabulary a bit. I will blog on this later.
Proverbs 7:
15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent-- the Lord detests them both.
Are you pouring your life out to Christ? Living this life in a way that is glorifying to God? Think on these things. We serve a God that has chosen us before the foundation of the world.
Ephesians 1
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
Anyway I recall the day a couple of months later when we had a baby dedication(not baptism) at my old church and how googly everyone was feeling inside. What if while you were at the altar the wolf or Pastor(depending where you go to church) asked you to kill your baby for one of your enemies in the congregation????? Would that not make you take your son and run out of the church and say Hades no!!!!!!!! Check this out though, this is what God did for us. Yes it is.
Romans 5:6-21
6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Colossians 1
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight-- (Emphasis added)23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
We were enemies of God totally depraved and without the divine work of the Holy Spirit we would still be dead in our trespasses and sins. Apostle Paul makes this clear to the gentile, jew, and person who thinks they are a good in Romans chapters 1, 2, & 3.
Ephesians 2
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
Wow we were by nature objects of wrath. I don't know about you but that makes me want to just thank Him more and more. Why would a just God send His Son to die for me? God took the punishment for your sins even though he led a sinless life on this Earth. That is the type of love that us humans are trying to obtain in this earth but I believe that this type of love is definitely divine. More scripture:
Romans 5:7
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
How about a brain twister? Here is some Antinomical Confusion. For those of you who like to think. Let me define antinomical-a contradiction between two statements, both apparently obtained by correct reasoning. This is something to ponder. I have been reading The Sovereignty of God and Evangelism by J.I.Packer. It has been stretching my vocabulary a bit. I will blog on this later.
Proverbs 7:
15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent-- the Lord detests them both.
Are you pouring your life out to Christ? Living this life in a way that is glorifying to God? Think on these things. We serve a God that has chosen us before the foundation of the world.
Ephesians 1
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
