Great Love of God for a Messed up Sinner

Romans 5:6-11 ESV
6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- 8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

I was reading this today in my devotions. This is one of those sections of Romans that a I could consider and meditate on for hours and probably not plumb the depths of what is being said here.

It speaks of who I was outside of Christ. I was weak, ungodly, a sinner, under the wrath of God, and an enemy of God. Too often I forget that who I am in myself is all these things. That is who I was before I was called to Christ, and that is who I would still be if I was not joined to him through faith.

But, for that weak person, that ungodly person, that sinner, that person under the wrath of God, that enemy of God who would on his own have no care for God at all, Christ died. He laid down his life for me and for all who believe that I and they could be removed from what we were, and joined to what he is. "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." What a wonderful truth, but as John Piper is want to point out, this truth is not phrased in the past tense, but in the present. God did not just show his love (past tense), but he shows his love, even today, present continuous tense.

If I want to know the love of God; if you want to know the love of God, look to the cross of Jesus Christ. There you will find that there is more than enough done that its effects and power extend all the way to today. When I get down and wonder if God loves me, I need to remember to look to Christ dying for me while I was a sinner.

Finally, as I looked at this, consider it, meditate upon it, I am given this further great hope. For since when I was a totally messed up enemy of God I was made right, reconciled with God through the death of his Son, what does that mean for now? Now that I have been reconciled. Now that I have through faith been brought to peace with God through Jesus Christ's death (Romans 5:1). Now that Jesus Christ is no longer dead, but alive and in heaven and seated at the right hand of God. What does that mean? Does is not mean that I, and all who are reconciled through his death even though we were still enemies, sinners, weak and under the wrath of God, will now be saved completely.

If you are like me, there are times when you despair. You look at your life, and see how sin still seems to clutch to you in so many areas. You see that no sooner do you deal with one sin by the grace of God, than another two come bubbling up to the surface that you never saw in the first place. How will you ever be saved? If you trust in Jesus think on this for a moment. If he died to reconcile you while you were still a sinner so that now you have peace with God through him, will he not, now that he is alive, save you all the way. It makes me think of Paul's letter to the Philippians where he wrote, "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." When God showed his love while you and I were still sinners, now that he has brought you and I to peace, will he not save us all the way.

Finally, the most amazing thing is this, we rejoice in God through Jesus. We exult in Him. We praise Him. We take pride in Him. We boast in Him. This is something we do now. When you and I start to realize who we were when Christ died for us, and who he has made us, and how he will save us to the very end, when we really realize this, it moves us to boast in God. It moves us to tell other people about how great God is through Jesus Christ who has reconciled us to him.

I don't know about you, but I don't find I do that enough. I think the reason is that I do not always have as much of an understanding of what exactly God has given me through Jesus Christ as I should have. It is so easy to start to either focus on the remaining sin in my life, or to focus on the world around me, and not to focus on the love of God in Christ. That is why I started by saying that I could consider and meditate on this passage for hours, and not plumb the depths of it. For God loved me, Christ died for me, when I was not in any way worth dying for. That is grace. It is undeserved to the uttermost. But, it is in this that we find God showing his love to you and me and all who believe. Oh what amazing love.

Go and worship with God's people tomorrow boasting in your great God and Saviour.

Urgent Prayer Request -- Updated

This was posted by Justin Taylor at Ref 21:

Posted on AlbertMohler.com:

Dr. Mohler's health has sustained a setback. Over the past 36 hours Dr. Mohler has suffered from unrelenting pain. This unusual degree of pain signaled concern for the attending physicians and prompted additional tests this afternoon. In the past hour these tests have revealed that Dr. Mohler is suffering from pulmonary emboli in both lungs. His condition is quite serious and he has been moved to the intensive care unit of Baptist East Hospital in Louisville, KY for immediate treatment.

Please make this a matter of urgent prayer. Thank you once again for your concern and support during these days.

From WebMD: "Pulmonary embolism (PE) is an extremely common and highly lethal condition that is a leading cause of death in all age groups. A good clinician actively seeks the diagnosis as soon as any suspicion of PE whatsoever is warranted, because prompt diagnosis and treatment can dramatically reduce the mortality rate and morbidity of the disease."

When Annette's dad went through this the doctors did not say much, but when it was all over they told of how they thought at the time he would die. The mortality rate on this is quite high, although the longer a person lives once it is detected, the better the odds that they will recover.

I echo the call given here and at Al Mohler's blog, pray for him and his family during this time.

Update: An update on Al Mohler's blog reports that Dr. Mohler is responding well to treatment, and was even able to discuss a book with Dr. Moore when he came to visit.

Petition Update

The petition calling for Pat Robertson to apologize for his presumptuous so called prophecies is now up to over 300 signatures. Again I encourage those who read this to go over there, read the petition, and if you agree to sign it. If you have a blog post the link there, and if you know of others who would like to sign, by all means direct them there. The hope is to get at least 1000 signatures by next Wednesday. More would be better.

Some of you may wonder what difference it would make to a person who says God is telling them this stuff to have fellow believers sign something like this. Pat may ignore it, but at the very least it shows that he is not the spokesman for Christianity, and his so called prophecies that don't come true are nothing of the sort.

Looking into the Womb

Melinda over at Stand to Reason posted this link of a National Geographic special on multiple birth using what they call 4D scans to produce images from inside the womb. Looking at the images they have produced it is amazing to think than anyone could see them and think that an unborn baby is anything less than that. It is not merely some tissue any more than you and I are only some tissue. Being able to see this reminds me of the words in Psalm 139,

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.

Update on McD's and Kidzworld

Back in May following a post on Pyromaniacs speaking about Kidzworld which was heavily sponsored by McDonalds, and concerns with the content of that site, I posted this.

I recently wondered if that sponsorship had continued, so I returned to Kidzworld, and found to my amazement, that I could not find a McDonald's advertisement. I did a bit of searching, and still couldn't. From what I can see, surprising as it is, McDonalds has done the right thing. It is good to see it when that happens.

Pat Robertson Petition

Over the past several years Pat Robertson has made various prophetic predictions on his 700 Club broadcast claiming that God was telling him that they were going to happen. However, while some have, others have not. Check out this article to read more about it. You can also check out this video.

God said in Deuteronomy 18:22, "when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him." Seeing as what Pat Robertson has predicted has not come to pass, and seeing as he himself says, "Sometimes I miss." he has been shown to be at the least presumptuous and by definition a false prophet.

If you agree, join in calling him to public repentance by signing this online petition.

To brother Robertson, please repent of what you have been doing for the sake of Christ and the gospel.

Is "Balance" possible

Over at Pyromaniacs, Phil Johnson has an excellent post concerning the attempt by many to walk the line of balance theologically. The usual places this is found were mentioned, that is, trying to find a middle line between legalism and license or a middle area between Calvinism and Arminianism. He points out that there is danger in taking this sort of approach.

As I was reading the first thing that came to my mind is the current "Dialog on Homosexuality" in the RCA. I guess is shows how big the problems are in the RCA when we seem to think that dialog will bring us to some sort of middle ground. I don't see it happening, and if it does, I cannot imagine many of the people I know who are currently in the RCA staying in the RCA. There is not place of balance in this discussion. My prayer is that as a denomination God helps us realize that, turning us back to him more fully.

Welcome to my blog's new home

Welcome to the new home of Kerussomen Christon Estauronmenon. As you can see I have moved all the posts from my Livejournal blog here, and over the next while I will be working on customizing things even more. I hope you will enjoy the new setting.

Apparently Messy is Good

It seems that all my failed attempts to keep my desk tidy are not the way to go. Messy is now apparently good. See here. I guess I should capitalize on this before the research shows the opposite.

If you are having a hard day at work, watch this and realize you are not alone

This is one of those videos that make you feel sorry for the person, and at the same time make you laugh. He was certainly having a hard day. Here is an interview with more information.

Look up. Look waaaay up, and I'll call Rusty.

For those of you who are old enough to remember this phrase, it will remind you of the children's show The Friendly Giant. It was one of those shows that I always enjoyed watching as a child, and thinking back it not only introduced me to many books, but also to various types of music. Having said that, this post has nothing to do with it. Instead it has to do with looking up to the sky at night to see the various constellations. I don't know how many of you have done this. I was always somewhat interested in it, but it was not until I took an astronomy course in University that I really got hooked. For several years I would look at my star charts and try to find various constellations. However, during my seminary years I didn't have time to do this, and now I find that I have forgotten much of what I had learned. Internet to the rescue. At this site you will find a free document entitled What's Up 2007: 365 Days of Skywatching. If you want to know more about what you can see each night through this coming year, have a look. A brief warning though, it is 410 pages long so you might not want to print off the whole thing.

Two Calls to Pray

Today two calls to prayer were sent out into the blog-sphere. The first, which seems less dangerous is for Dr. Al Mohler. At his blog the following is posted: Dr. Albert Mohler is recovering at Louisville's Baptist East hospital following abdominal surgery. Dr. Mohler was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday after experiencing abdominal pain. During a three-hour procedure, surgeons removed scar tissue from a 1980s operation. Dr. Mohler is expected to be released from the hospital next week and will continue his recovery at home. Dr. Russell Moore, dean of the School of Theology and Senior VP for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, will host The Albert Mohler radio program until he is able to return to the air. Dr. Mohler's blog and commentary posts will resume as soon as he is able. Please join the Southern Seminary community in praying for Dr. Mohler's quick and total recovery. The second, which seems much more concerning is that of Dr. James Kennedy. On Reformation 21 Rick Phillips posted the following: Please pray for Dr. D. James Kennedy, his wife and daughter, and Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. Dr. Kennedy is in grave condition following a heart attack last evening. Jim's health has deteriorated markedly in the last several months, and he has manfully continued his ministry to the best of his ability. During all my interactions with him even during this trying time, he has exhibited his characteristic good cheer, charm, and force of mind. Along with being a man with great vision for the kingdom of Christ, Jim Kennedy is a true Christian gentleman. Please pray for God to restore him to full health and give him grace as his situation should require. He posted a further update here. Although these are widely different situations, both carry with them struggle and danger. Please pray for these men as they go through these bitter providences, that in them God's grace may be shown to be sufficient and that his power may be made perfect in their weakness. To God be the glory.

Seriously Merry Christmas

Since I have posted the rather tongue in cheek Merry Christmas for those who are 24 fans, I wanted to post a more serious Christmas greeting. As we worshiped today we remembered together the amazing truth that the Son of God came from the glories of heaven, not grasping the equality to God that is his, but rather pouring himself out into a human being born to an unwed mother and laid in a manger because there was not room in the inn. It is the glory of God with us, come to save us, and who would humbly and obediently go to death, even the shameful death on the cross. With that in mind, a blessed Christmas to all of you. Enjoy. HT: Denny Burk

Merry Christmas (Especially for you 24 fans)

I am not a huge fan of 24, probably because I have not watched enough of it to be able to follow the plot line without going back. The few times I have watched it, it has looked like the sort of show I could get into if I had the time to devote to catching up. Sadly, I don't, but I can still recognize good parody. :) So to everyone, a Merry CHRISTmas, and enjoy HT: Biblical Christianity

Tis the Season For Lists

It seems that as we come to the end of any given year, we are surrounded by various lists. To add to that, here is a list of the geekiest animals ever. Click Here

Christmas Lights

Have you ever wondered where those Christmas lights you put up came from? Well, here is an interesting video about how those made in China Christmas lights are put together. For more information check out Lights of Christmas HT: Random Responses

George Street

The more I consider it, the more I think we make evangelism much too difficult. The thinking today is that one must do so many different things to successfully lead people to Christ. Yet, if the word of God is true, the success in evangelism is in his hands not ours. What we are called to do is as clearly and politely as we can present the gospel to people. Maybe we will not see the results ourselves, but God said his word will not return to him void, but will accomplish what he desires. As a reminder of that I link you over to this audio account of a faithful little man as a reminder that God works as his people are faithful in presenting the message of Jesus Christ. More audio lessons can be found at Way of the Master

Women Talk More Than Men

Like this is a surprise. For years it has been denied, but now the research has come back and found that women talk 3 times more on average than men. For more information, check out this article.

Interesting Contest

I heard about this contest from Biblical Christianity If I win I will be sure to blog about it.

Gift Exchanges?

Thankfully I seem to be past this point in my life, but I am sure that some of you are still involved in those group/office gift exchanges. You know the ones where everyone is supposed to purchase a gift in a certain value range, wrap it and put it under the tree. Then everyone draws a number and based on that picks a gift. The next person can either take that unwrapped gift or get one from under the tree. I always seemed to end up with something that no one else wanted, but another blogger has some good suggestions and warning on gifts for that sort of exchange. See Here