Coffee With The Lord

“GUILTY AS CHARGED!” … And the judges gavel comes down hard!  And the sentence is frightening – not simply imprisonment… death – eternal death!

I read the official transcript of the proceedings and the verdict this morning during my devotions – Romans 3:9-20! 

This is one powerful passage! Apostle Paul, a Pharisee and Old Testament scholar pulls together a large quantity of OT texts (Psalm 51:4; 14:1-3; 53:1-3; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Psalm 5:9; 140:3; 10:7; Isaiah 59:7-8; and Psalm 36:1) to make an important and irrefutable point… “Both Jews and Greeks” (all of us – all humankind) are sinners in need of a Savior – “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God!”  …GUILTY AS CHARGED!

Oh, but praise God for the next passage! … There is an appeal!  There is evidence  the penalty has been paid!  Here it is… “There is no difference; ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD, … BUT ALL CAN BE JUSTIFIED [DECLARED RIGHT WITH GOD], FREELY BY GOD’S GRACE THROUGH THE REDEMPTION THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS!” (Romans 3:23-24) Praise the Lord!

REMEMBRANCE, WORSHIP AND A COVENANT OF GRACE!

Genesis 8:1 – 9:17 After experiencing a cataclysmic flood and after being locked up with your family and all the animals in an “ark” for over half a year, Noah might have begun to wonder, “Will this never end!? Has God forgotten about us?”  

But the Bible records, “GOD REMEMBERED NOAH, and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the Ark!”

God remembered, God acted, and God spoke (vss.15-17)! That was cause for worship! (vss. 20) And God responded with a wonderful covenant of grace (and we’re reminded of it every time we see a rainbow)! (vss. 8:21-22 and 9:8-17)!

That is what God has done for us through Jesus Christ!  (John 3:16-17)  Oh, Praise the Lord – reason for worship!!  In His love and mercy He has done it!

GRIEF IS REAL – EVEN FOR THE GODLY!  (You really need to read Job 3 to see how real it can be!)

Before we are quick to judge Job’s remarks in Job 3, however, as somehow unbecoming to “a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil” (An assessment, incidentally, of Job’s spiritual character and God’s evaluation of Job on two different occasions – Job 1:1, 8; 2:3), perhaps there should be an empathetic consideration of the magnitude of Job’s loss and the pain he suffered at the hands of Satan (Job 1-2)!

Grief is a real human challenge, even for the godly!  Yet the Bible declares, “we do not grieve as those who have no hope!” (1 Thessalonians 4:13)  We believe that all things are in the Lord’s hands and ultimately “all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose!”  We also believe that “nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Romans 8:28, 35-39)  Those realities help sustain us through times of great loss and grief!