Today's Reading:
- Genesis 1-7
- Isaiah 1-4
- Matthew 1-2
- Romans 1-3
Reading Time: 47 minutes
I've read it all before. God makes the earth, makes man in his own image, lets man make his own decisions, watches as humanity descends into rampant immorality and chaos, decides to flood the earth and wash it clean, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The Psalmist sings about the greatness of God and God's truth and God's son and God's power, and how good it is to serve Him. Isaiah cries for the repentance of a people who are destined for destruction and captivity. The Messiah arrives in the world via a Jewish family. And Paul writes his gospel-centered letter, including the oft quoted verse:
For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes.
Romans 1:16, NLT
And it was there in Romans 1 that my heart began to break, because having read about the flood and the demise of humanity save eight souls, I now hear that God still hates sin and that there is judgment awaiting those who do not believe in Him to the saving of their souls and the changing of their ways. The apostle inspired even shows us the path that leads to such destruction.
First is the refusal to believe God's truth. It is heard and rejected, willfully pushed away and denied.
Then is the refusal to worship God, the omnipotent originator and benevolent sustainer of all that is.
Next is the refusal to accept God as He is, rather remaking Him in our own image with our own imaginations, so that He is more like us or that which we have created for ourselves.
And God let's us go and do it.
Having refused the truth and reshaped God, we now redefine morality, fidelity, and reality. Anything goes as we explore the newfound freedom of godhood.
And God let's us go and do whatever we want.
Having redefined right and wrong, we begin to celebrate wrong as right, right as relative, and debase ourselves with every kind of indulgence, defying nature and defiling ourselves to the point of reaping in our bodies the consequences of our own actions.
And God let's us go and do what should never be done.
There we find the depth and depravity of becoming a governing force for ourselves, because without God, with absolute truth, without an absolute moral standard, without an omnipotent power guiding our lives, we descend into every kind of wickedness and sin, knowing that it's wrong but refusing to do what is right, ultimately encouraging those around us to come along too. And there we die.
Without Christ.
And here my heart was broken. I wept over the pages as I continued to read.
We find that there is no righteousness apart from Him, none righteous without Him, none able to do good outside of Him, and no one able to save us...except HIM! And He has done everything necessary to save us from our sin, from ourselves, from satan, and from certain destruction in a devil's hell. He sent Jesus to die on the cross for us, taking in Himself all of the punishment and penalty for our sin. Salvation is ours for the having...if we will just have it. And there my heart was healed and made whole again! There I rejoiced and was made glad. Because I know Him, because I have Him, because I believe.
There is only one God, and there is only one way of being accepted by Him. He makes people right with himself only by faith.
Romans 3:30, NLT
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