There are people who would not surprise you if they didn't understand basic Christian teaching. But sadly, the people we last expect to surprise us with their confusion, are those that do; people who have been in church for so many years simply don't understand the Gospel. Do you? We have, in this short series, created an opportunity for you to come to understand. In the two previous sermons, we have considered your need for justification, then the meaning of justification, and today, the reason for your justification. Many people are are asking how God can judge sin, but the real question is how God can forgive it. This is clear in that so many people find God's wrath in the Old Testament a problem. But the problem in the Old Testament is not God's wrath, but His mercy! How could He do that? At the heart of this is that justice has been served. For me! We are always looking for an opportunity to boast; but in the Gospel, God takes that opportunity away. We are so proud and deceptive, we can even make our failures seem like successes to others. But God's pleasure in you, as a believer, will always be found in God's pleasure in Jesus. Your righteousness needs to be knocked out of your hands in order for you to see your need before Jesus. This need and perspective brings us all down to the same place, but it also raises us all to the same place. How dare any of us feel superior to anyone else? Also, how dare any of us feel inferior to anyone else? |
