Dear Church Family,
I will return soon to some more Biblical insights on time. Please be patient.
I have opened the last two worship services with quotes from Charles Spurgeon who is considered to be one of the greatest preachers ever. I came across one of his quotes that reminds us of the incredible nature of God’s grace:
"Men seem to think that God is under obligation to grant salvation to guilty men;
that if he saves one he must save all. They talk about rights,
as if any man had any right before the throne of God,
except the right to be punished for his sin."
Spurgeon shows how sinners have twisted the holy character of God. They think the Creator somehow must be obliged to serve those He created. You might think the effects of evolution had already crept into the culture. That could be true as Spurgeon lived from 1834-1892 and publication of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” came in 1859. Yet since Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden man has rebelled against God and sought to be the arbiter of what is right and wrong. Certainly the mythology found in the Greek, Roman and Norse cultures (as well as almost all ancient civilizations) feature humans forming “deities” that reflect how humans want their gods to act.
God answers this accusation of His “obligation to grant salvation to guilty men” in Romans 9:20-12, “But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? (Then quoting Isaiah 29:16 and 45:9) “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this.’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?” We must ever marvel and worship the fact that God saves anyone. He has no such obligation except that He promised after the fall to send a Redeemer who would crush the head of Satan.
Indeed our sins must be punished. God sent His only Son to be our substitute. He bore the wrath of God for those chosen to be His people. Again the temptation to think our good works have somehow redeemed ourselves remains. We must reject and run from it.
As John MacArthur, who could be considered a modern Spurgeon, has preached, “One tragic element of our fallen nature is the inclination to evaluate our actions according to our own standards. Little wonder so many people perceive themselves as “good people.” But God is our Judge, and He will adjudicate based on His holy standards.”
By faith in Christ we have the hope of standing before our Judge and being welcomed into His eternal presence. May we live with that hope today!
Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin