Psalm 37:35-40
“I have seen a wicked and
ruthless man flourishing
like a luxuriant native tree, but he soon passed away and was
no more; though
I looked for him, he could not be found. Consider the blameless, observe the
upright; a future awaits those who seek peace. But all sinners will be destroyed; there will
be no future for the wicked. The
salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in
time of trouble. The Lord helps
them and delivers them; he
delivers them from the wicked and saves them because they take refuge
in him.”
As we conclude chapter 37, these thoughts filled my mind;
we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. You will find that
in Romans 3:23-25a, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came
by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[a] through the shedding of
his blood—to be received by faith.” Many have bought the lie
that your goodness will achieve God’s grace, but Scripture is unequivocal on
this point. The great prophet Isaiah had this word to each of us from
God; “All
of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like
filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind, our sins sweep
us away.” (Isaiah
64:6)
The apostle Paul gives this insight on how to attain faith to
trust and believe in an unseen God, in Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from
hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” So a wise person would look
to Jesus and listen to what He has to say. Not much is different from the
times when Jesus walked on earth, the religious wanted God on their terms, so
they designed Him to fit their mold, so, like the fool, who said there is no
God, they missed grace. Do you recall Jesus’ answer to a non-question by
the Pharisee named Nicodemus? You will find this in John 3:3, “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” It is later in chapter
3 of John we read verse 16-17, “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 God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
A fool will never receive this life-changing message from
Jesus, for they have established in their hearts there is no God. Many a
church member also will miss the faith to believe for they have decided to have
a God of their making, and one that almost worships them for their
goodness.
But the good news is God is into redemption and all who
come to Him by faith believing that Jesus was raised from the dead, overcame
death and the grave, defeated sin, you will find the way in Romans
10:9-10. You may want to read Luke 21:25-28, it is Jesus telling us about
His second coming and our redemption.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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