The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Romans 6:23,
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Several chapters back in Paul's letter to the church in Rome he made this observation, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God", Romans 3:23. He now points out in the above verse that the penalty for sin is death. Eternal, everlasting death. As the descendants of Adam, we all come into this physical life as spiritually dead. Spiritually dead and headed for an eternity described, horrifically, in Revelation 20:8, "The cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." In the previous chapter in Revelation this comment is made, "Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:15.
In this life we "earn" a horrific eternal wage due to our sinful condition, by just showing up. However, Paul explains that rather than ending up in that lake of fire, we can receive a wonderful gift from God: eternal life in his family, in paradise!
God's motivation for providing us with an opportunity to join his family, by having his Son, Jesus Christ pay the penalty for our sin is found in that famous verse, John 3:16. "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."
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Several chapters back in Paul's letter to the church in Rome he made this observation, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God", Romans 3:23. He now points out in the above verse that the penalty for sin is death. Eternal, everlasting death. As the descendants of Adam, we all come into this physical life as spiritually dead. Spiritually dead and headed for an eternity described, horrifically, in Revelation 20:8, "The cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." In the previous chapter in Revelation this comment is made, "Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:15.
In this life we "earn" a horrific eternal wage due to our sinful condition, by just showing up. However, Paul explains that rather than ending up in that lake of fire, we can receive a wonderful gift from God: eternal life in his family, in paradise!
God's motivation for providing us with an opportunity to join his family, by having his Son, Jesus Christ pay the penalty for our sin is found in that famous verse, John 3:16. "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."
Simply by embracing Jesus Christ in faith is all God requires! Is there any better opportunity in life that we could possibly have offered to us?!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
No comments:
Post a Comment