What an Awesome God.

God, who is 'known by his justice' (Psalm 9:16a) allowed himself/his son to be treated unjustly so that he could forgive the sins of all who put their faith in him.

Wow.

Every knee will bow.

Romans 14:11 (Paul quotes from Isaiah 45:23)

It is written:“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

Here's a simple, but hard truth. Every knee will bow before Jesus. Every person will submit to him as the one true God who reigns over the whole universe.

Note: Jesus is God, along with God the father and God the Holy Spirit. They are all the same one true God, but in three persons with three different roles. That idea is hard to fathom and work through, but just keep in mind that God is immeasurably wiser than us and he can do what he wants (even if we can't quite grasp it)

The thing is, these people will come in two categories.

Those who bow the knee now and willingly.
Christians are the people who will submit to God here and now. We are the ones who (by the Holy Spirit working in our lives and God's grace) have recognised that we are sinful and that we deserve God's wrath. We realise that disobedience to God means that we fall short of his standard (perfection), and therefore we deserve his justice, which means hell eternally.

But, Christians also know that God is merciful and gracious. Instead of just allowing us to face his wrath he made a way for us to be forgiven. He sent Jesus into the world, his one and only son. Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect life. He did not disobey God at all. Therefore he alone did not deserve to face God's punishment (death and then hell). Yet Jesus came to earth to die in our place and take God's wrath for us.

On the cross Jesus took the punishment that we should have suffered for eternity in hell. He did not do it because of anything desirable in us, because where is nothing good or worthwhile in us (we are wretched, horrible sinners) - he did it entirely out of his awesome mercy, grace and love. It hurts to hear that. But that is what Christians believe.

As a result we repent of our sins - we say sorry for them and try to obey God, and we trust that Jesus has truly dealt with our sin and God's perfect just wrath against them. As a result we bow the knee willingly. We submit to God in our lives here and will rejoice when he (Jesus/God) returns to judge the living and the dead, because we will know that through Jesus alone we are completely forgiven and will go to be with him forever in heaven. We will rejoice and should rejoice now to submit to Jesus.

Those who will be forced to bow the knee at judgement.
But there is another category. Jesus has promised that he will return to judge all people. The thing is that all people deserve his punishment (hell) because all people have sinned.

When Jesus returns it will be awful for those who have not given there lives to him, for those who have tried to liv their best life now on tis earth. Jesus will return, and there will be no more time to repent and turn to him - there will only be his justice. And Justice means hell for all those who refused to give up their sins and be forgiven by Jesus.

On the last day these people will bow the knee to Jesus, but it won't be with rejoicing. It will be with much crying and wailing and terror. It will be terrible. They will stand before God's throne condemned, like we all should have been, because they don't stand there with Jesus interceding with God for them.

The challenge.

• First up: Are you a Christian? Are you submitting to God now? Or are you continuing to reject him and live your own way? We are all sinners and we all deserve hell. It's only those who put their faith in Jesus who will be saved. If you aren't then talk to people about it! Ask the questions you have and keep asking until someone gives you and answer that makes sense. If you want then send me a message or an email - I'm more than happy to chat! Read the bible, look into what this is all about and be honest with yourself.

• If you are a Christian then you should love those around you enough to tell them the gospel. If their continued rejection of God will lead them to his punishment in hell eternally and we love them, that should terrify us. I don't want my friends, my grandpa, or even my enemies to suffer that wrath. We need to tell people about God and Jesus! In saying that, this is one of the areas of my life that I fall short in all the time. I am constantly chickening out and not sharing the gospel with people who I should be telling it to. I am always making excuses. I fail at it miserably. Thankfully God is forgiving and merciful. But that's something I've got to change - maybe you do to.

• Keep in mind that God is not the evil one in this scenario. We are the evil ones. He is the good one. He judges because he is just, god and right, and because we are evil, wretched and sinful. He shows his mercy entirely out of his grace and who he is - not based on anything in us. God isn't the bad guy. We're the bad guys.

Soli Deo Gloria!
God Bless!
Nat.


Philippians 2:5b-11

have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Listening, not just hearing.

It's come to my attention lately that over the past few weeks, with the business of finishing school and exams, I've slipped a bit in my walk with God. I've still been reading the bible and praying, but it had become more of a chore than a joy.

Part of the problem, I've realised was that I was hearing and reading God's word but not really listening to it. Because I've been considering it more of a chore and because I've been more stressed about study and the other complexities of life, when I've been reading the word my mind has been elsewhere. As a result I've been reading it, but not truly listening to it. I haven't been taking notice of what God is teaching me, I haven't been applying it to my life, I haven't been rejoicing in the lessons God has for me and the depths of his mercy and grace.

As I started to realise that I had been slipping I began trying to fix it myself. Again not listening to God or just turning to him in prayer. We try so hard to fix things ourselves, but we are sinful and we cannot. Only God can bring us back to him. Only God can reveal to us where we have stuffed up and bring us back to a right standing before him through Christ. In pride it's so often easy to lose sight of that again.

I thought it would be worth posting this because perhaps you're facing the same problem. I didn't really recognise it until the last few days. I thought I was doing a good job when in reality I was legalistically doing chores that I thought would impress God. The truth is nothing we can ever do can impress God. That's why we need Jesus. That's why God is so gracious and merciful in saving us. We deserve none of it.

If this is you, then pray. Ask God for help. Be honest with him and yourself (Your not going to scare him with your honesty - he knows it all anyway). Read his word and take note of it - don't just do it as a chore, apply it to your life and rejoice in it (regardless of if it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside or not).

An Unfair Exchange

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Romans 12:1

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

At first glance it may seem that it's unfair for God to ask us to live our entire lives as sacrifices to him. But that's because we're not seeing things in view of his mercy. The unfairness isn't that we have to serve God - that's an honour and a rich blessing, and we should get more joy from serving God then from our sin. The unfair exchange is that Jesus, who is God, all powerful and eternally perfect, holy, pure, just, loving and merciful, the creator and sustainer of everything in existence, came and died for us. Jesus, who had been in fellowship with God the father and the Holy Spirit eternally, came to earth, took our sin and God's wrath (that we rightfully should suffer for eternity) so that we could be forgiven. Then he rose again from the dead to prove it.

We cannot fathom what it was that Jesus gave up for us. We don't deserve it. We don't deserve any part of it - we are wretched sinners who hated and rejected God by living in sin. Yet he sent Jesus to save us.

Paul is telling us that we should live as sacrifices to God In view of that mercy. In view of the infinite sacrifice God made for us. When we see how much Jesus did for us, anything we can offer can never compete. That's why we could never save ourselves. If Jesus hadn't died for us, we would still be spiritually dead, living in sin. Because he saved our lives, bringing us to life, it makes sense that we should use that life to glorify and honour him alone.

Living as a sacrifice

In the Old Testament most of the sacrifices had one of two jobs. Some were given to pay for sin - those were fulfilled by jesus on the cross since he is the ultimate sacrifice for sin. The others were given in praise of God. Without doing any extra research on it, I thin that's what Paul is getting at - we need to live our lives as sacrifices in thankfulness of what he has done and in praise of who he is.

But what does this look like?

• Putting God first. That's the first commandment, and it's the one we struggle with most. It's so easy to slip into idolatry, to put other things before God without even realising. For me it's usually fear of man or love of friends that gets in the way. The desire for approval. For others it can be money or health or a wide range of other things
• Obeying God and giving up sin. We are sinful and we desire to sin. Instead of living that way, when we are saved we need to repent and give up sin. Jesus died to rescue us from slavery in sin, it is stupid to go back to it if you've turned to him. Obeying God glorifies him because it is us being in line with his character. He is the definition of perfection, and when we obey his laws we are acting in line with who he is. Paul says we are to be "holy and pleasing to God" - that means not sinful, since sin can never please God. Holiness means separate, and if we are to be separate from sin we need to give it up completely.
• Spending time praising God. It's easy to focus all our energy on doing the right things, but what God actually cares about is our hearts. He doesn't want us to be legalistic, he wants us to genuinely love him and submit to him out of that love. So, we need to spend time just in praise of God, rejoicing in who he is and what he has done - for us, for his people throughout history, and for his general mercies. That's what true worship is - not just lip service or obeying rules. Genuine praise form the heart, and the result of that is obedience.

I don't know about what this verse sounds like in the Greek, but in English the translators have said: "offer your bodies as a living sacrifice". Notice that it goes from plural (your bodies) to singular (a living sacrifice). We need to collectively as God's church throughout the world and as his people in a certain place work together to live as sacrifices for him. We need to spend time with friends and family who love God, being honest with each other, loving and helping each other, encouraging and rebuking each other, praying and looking at God's word together. If we are "brothers and sisters", adopted as God's children then we need to act like a family - we need to be deeply concerned for each other and to look after the needs of those around us. We need to deeply love each other, even loving those who we don't get on with easily (thats hard to do!)

I came to God's word this morning feeling tired and quite unmotivated to read it. Nevertheless God is faithful and he reminded me that I need to give it all to him. Are we willing to live our entire lives as sacrifices for God? Even when we don't feel like it?

God deserves and demands our everything - are we willing to give it?

Our Glorious, Awesome God.

Romans 11:33

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!

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Oh the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How wonderful He is! How unfathomable, how awesome, how powerful! How perfect and holy!

We should be thrilled at who God is. We should be entirely overawed. His wisdom, His plans and ideas, His works are deeper and richer then we could ever fathom. They bring glory to Him and they work for the good, of all those who love Him - revealing His mercy, grace, love, patience, kindness, justice, holiness, perfection and peace to us. God has done more then we could even imagine or measure!

We should simply be over-awed at who God is. We should just stand and appreciate His work, His character, His love. We should just stop and enjoy it, glorying in it and glorifying him for it.

Yet so often we are disinterested. We shrug our shoulders and go back to work or to study or to our meaningless wealth or to our friendships. I do that constantly, in fact it is the rare occasion that I just bask in God's glory - it is very rare. But it is so precious.

The wisdom of God. God's wisdom is wiser then anything we can imagine, "the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." (1 Corinthians 1:25). What did He decide to do? He sent Jesus, who was and is eternally God as a man, to suffer and die. To live among us, and to be murdered by us. Why? So He could save us, so He could forgive us for our sins, so He could reveal to us God's full character and so that He could love us. No, it isn't about us - it's about Him, but He did do it for us as well. What an awesome God!

What does this mean for us? 

• We can trust God! His wisdom and knowledge are unsearchable because we are so frail and ignorant. Therefore when things don't make sense, when we can't see how God is working, trust him! He knows infinitely more than us! We don't have to fret because He has promised to work everything for His glory and for the good of His people (Romans 8:28)
• We can "Rejoice in the Lord always" (Phil 4:4) because He has shown us His character and it is wonderful. Because He is infinite and unsearchable, yet has revealed himself to us, offering to save us even though we are ignorant and foolish. If we never lose sight of the awesome God we serve, then we never have reason to stop rejoicing, because we should simply be rejoicing in who He is, and that remains constant regardless of what is happening in our lives
• We need to be humble. God is infinite, His plans are so full, so deep, so rich, so perfect that they are unsearchable by us. Who are we to think we know better? Who are we to live in sin and rebellion to him? Who are we to ask why He does what He does? Who are we even to be noticed and loved by Him? Yet he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7) and in His mercy and grace He does call us to know Him and to ask questions. But we do that humbly, knowing that God is unfathomably more awesome then we can understand.
• Just enjoy God. Know His character and bask in the light of who He is. Pray for His help to do that, read His word so that you can understand it further. Just enjoy God for who He is!

God is in control and He works out everything to bring glory to Him in ways that we do not understand. His paths are more wonderful then we can understand, deeper and more glorious then we can search. We cannot comprehend all He does in the world around us, in our lives and the lives of others. But God knows what He does, and we can glorify Him that He is working through everything to bring about His good and perfect purpose. We can glorify Him for who He is, and we should do that.

Where is the Joy in your walk with God? Are you basking in who He is? Are you simply enjoying the God who created, sustains and saved us? Are you enjoying His creation, which sings his praises (Psalm 19)?

To God be the glory! Great things He has done!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Nat.

"The Sternness of God"

Romans 11:22

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Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

As I explained in the previous post, the context of this verse is the rejection of the Jews and the acceptance of the Gentiles as God's people. The Jews as a nation had rejected Jesus, murdering him on the cross. As a result God (as he had always planned) opened up the gospel for the gentiles as well - everyone who puts their faith in Christ who will be saved, regardless of heritage or outward signs.

Though he talks about God's kindness in this passage (explored here), Paul also talks about God's "sternness". I like writing about God's mercy and grace - those things are what we like to hear. But the truth is that God is good, and that means his justice, perfection and righteousness are good as well. That means we need to praise him for those attributes just as much as we do for his kindness toward us.

The sternness of God is not Injustice.

When Paul talks about God's sternness he is talking about his pure an righteous judgement on all who reject him. We are sinners, God is pure. As a result we deserve his wrath and we can do nothing to change that. In Jesus God's kindness is displayed - we can be shown mercy because if we put our faith in him, he takes our sins and God's punishment and we take his perfection. If we reject Christ then we will get what we deserve.

What exactly is it that we deserve?

Hell. God's eternal condemnation and wrath against our sin. If we reject God and his means of saving us, then we will be rejected by him eternally. But what is hell?

• Hell is Eternal - Revelation 14:11 "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name."

• Hell is physical Torment - Luke 16:24 "And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame."

• Hell is separation from God's presence and is God's wrath against sin - 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 "when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might"

• Hell will be just and God's punishment varies - Matthew 11:22 "I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you."

It's safe to say that hell will be a terrible, horrible place. Yet that is what we deserve because of our sin. We all deserve God's eternal wrath. Yet there is salvation, full and complete forgiveness and adoption as God's children through Jesus.

How do you turn to him?

"Repent and Believe for the Kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1:15)

Repentance is the act of turning around. Instead of rejecting God and living sinfully, we need to say sorry for our rebellion an to fight to obey God. It isn't our obedience that saves us, but true repentance will result in obedience.

Belief, or faith is trust in God. Trust that Jesus did truly come, that he is truly God and he is fully man. That he did die and that he paid for our sins. It is also belief that he rose literally, physically rose again and that we will be with him eternally in heaven.

We deserve God's sternness, his justice, because we reject him and live sinfully. Yet he has held out the free offer of complete salvation in Jesus. Will you repent and put your faith in him?

If you want to discuss this more then feel free to email me at only.in.christ25@gmail.com.

I hope this was helpful.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Nat.


Further reading: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-hell-21-eye-opening-scriptures/#ixzz2dujQtXpA

"The Kindness of God"

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Romans 11:22

Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

"Consider therefore the Kindness of God". 

What has come before these verses is Paul's explanation of the Jews rejection of Christ and therefore the removal from their place as God's people, and the acceptance of the Gentiles and all who repent and believe in Jesus into God's family through Him. Well, Paul tells us to consider God's kindness. In what ways has God been kind to us?

Well the first, biggest, most obvious way (and the one that is most suitable to the context) is that he has saved us through Jesus. We sin, we disobey God. We hate him, we hate his creation. We hurt, we lie, we steal, we are selfish and self-glorifying (proud). We live constantly in disobedience to God's commands. His commands, which are a direct reflection of his character. We, like Adam and Eve who first sinned, are by nature sinners and therefore enemies of God's perfection. 

Yet, in his grace, God sent Jesus into the world as a man. He sent his only son who was eternally with him in perfect fellowship for all eternity. Jesus, who is God, willingly came to earth and became a man. he lived among sinful people, he suffered and he died. He was murdered by those he came to save. Why? To glorify God by showing his kindness, mercy, patience and love to us. We deserved God's justice, his judgement and his wrath for all eternity. Instead Jesus came to the earth and took that wrath on the cross. We cannot comprehend that, I cannot understand it. But it is beyond words to describe God's kindness and mercy to us in doing that for us.

Yet Jesus didn't only die for sin. He rose again, proving that he had truly dealt with all our sin and proving that he is God. He rose again, and everyone who puts their faith in him will be forgiven. When we turn to Christ our sin is put on him and we are forgiven.

What's more is that we, christians are accepted into God's family. We are adopted as his children. We are "co-heirs with Christ" (Read Romans 8). We are his people and we will be with him for all eternity in heaven, enjoying his presence and glorifying him forever. God is certainly kind to us, and we need to praise him for that. We need to glorify him for his character - for his kindness, mercy and grace, and for his justice, holiness and righteousness. 

What other ways does God show his kindness for us? Life every morning, light from the sun every day, grass, trees, birds, mountains, rivers, lakes, water, family, friendships, warmness, coolness, even sickness and hardship can show forth God's kindness. There are countless examples - come up with your own as well and praise God for them.

We rejected him, even though he created us. We rejected him who directs the stars and the water molecules. We rejected him who holds all of creation together, who gives light to the sun and power to the waves. We rejected him. Yet he came and died in our place on the cross. "Hand that flung stars into space, To cruel nails surrendered" for our sakes.

Will you continue to reject his kindness?

All Roads Don't Lead to Heaven (Part 2)

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John 14:6

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

In the previous post, we looked at why the general belief most people have about getting to heaven is wrong. We so often think that all people, or at least all "good" people will get to heaven. The truth is, no one is good - we all stuff up. That's why Jesus is the only way to heaven. Because he is both God and man, he is the only one who could pay for our sins and make us right with God. Jesus is the only way.

The Truth

Not only is Jesus the only way to God, he is also the truth. Our world is obsessed with relative truth: "You believe what you want to, I'll believe what I want too", "Everyone's right (well, everyone besides Christians that is...)".

The fact is, Jesus is the only truth. He is the only one who can truly save. Therefore all other methods of getting to heaven, all other teachings about different "ways" to heaven, are false. They're lies. Jesus is the true way to God.

The Life 

Jesus is the life. He is the only one who can give us life. In Romans 6 we learn that because we all sin, we are "dead in sin". We deserve death (and hell eternally), and we are dead in our relationship with God.

Through Jesus there is life. He takes our sin if we put our faith in him, and he makes us alive with him. Romans 6 continues by telling us that we, when we became christians, died with Christ and rose to life with him. We died to sin, and we rose again. We are New creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). Through Jesus we are forgiven, the wages of sin are taken away and we are granted God's grace - eternal life with Him in heaven after we die.

Jesus truly is the life.

The Only way to God

Another thought on this is that heaven is where we will be with God, enjoying his presence forever. The whole sentiment that all roads lead to heaven is based on the idea that heaven will be a great place to be. That's absolutely true, but it'll be great because we will be with God eternally. Therefore if people are living lives where they are rejecting God here, then in a sense they will get what they want (and deserve) when God judges - they will be separated from all the benefits of his character - his grace, mercy, love, and they will face his wrath, justice and purity for eternity.

The point of heaven is not to enjoy having whatever we want, it's to enjoy God and glorify him forever - and in heaven we will be transformed and made pure so that worshipping God does give us the perfect Joy. If you're living a life that rejects God, seeking only enjoyment from this life, how can you expect to enjoy him forever? You're not following Jesus who is the only way, the only truth and the only way to life.

All Roads Don't Lead to Heaven (Part 1)

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One message our culture, and therefore we as people, love to hear is that "all roads lead to heaven". "You'll be al
right as long as you're not a murderer or rapist". "Live how you want to as long as it doesn't hurt others or force your values on them". The problem with this message is that it's from us, humans, not from God. It's us trying to make ourselves feel better and have some sense of security. Well, lets see what God says about this.

John 14:6

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Wait a second. God (i.e. Jesus) is telling us clearly here that what our culture says, and what we so often want to believe is wrong. All roads don't lead to heaven - only Jesus does. Heaven is where God is, and "No one comes to the father except through [Jesus]" because he is the way, he is the truth and he is the life.

The way
Jesus is the only way to get to heaven. God is perfect, holy and entirely righteous. In him there is no darkness (1 John 1:5). In contrast, we are all sinful. We have all stuffed up. We all reject God. We all disobey him. Obviously that means there's a problem. God demands and requires perfect obedience. No human can achieve that because "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Yet, instead of just judging us as we deserve and sending us all to hell to suffer his wrath eternally, God sent Jesus (who is also God) into the world as a man. Jesus came and did not sin. He preached the gospel: That he would die for our sins, and that all who repent and believe (turn from sin and trust in him) will be saved. He then was crucified, taking God's wrath for all the sin of those who put their faith in him. he then rose again, proving that he had truly paid for our sin, since death is the result of sin.

You see, without payment for sin, God would justly have to condemn us. But because Jesus took that punishment and our sin on the cross if we're christians, we can be forgiven. Because he was perfect he could swap, taking our sin so we could take his perfection in God's sight. Because he was a man he could have our sin and live among sinful people. Because he is God he could pay the price that we never could. Jesus is the only way to God because he is the only way that we can be forgiven.

The question then has to be asked: Have you turned to Jesus as the only way to God? Have you given your life to him? Is this shown by how you live? Jesus is the only way to God - Mohammed isn't, nor is Buddha. Money can't get you to heaven, and your friends can't take you there because they're sinful too. God works won't even get you there, because no matter how much good you do, you're still guilty. A murderer doesn't suddenly become innocent by giving money to charity - that wouldn't be justice (I mean, I could go steal money and then give most it to charity: that wouldn't make me innocent). So many 'christians' don't truly follow Christ, they instead try to rely on their good works. This method will always fail because we cannot be good enough since we have sinned.

Jesus is truly the only way.

Can you say with Peter: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

The link between Forgiveness and Love.

Luke 7:40-43, 47

Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said. 

“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. 

Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
Want to love God more? Understand the gravity of sin and how much he has forgiven us.

This whole passage is absolutely beautiful. Jesus is invited to the house of a Pharisee to eat, and while he is there a 'sinner' (perhaps a prostitute) comes, weeps on his feet, dries them with her hair, kisses them and pours perfume on them. That sounds a bit weird in our culture, but it is beautiful.

The point of the passage is that she realises her sin, and she repents of it. She turns to Jesus even though she is a wretched sinner and she knows it). She seeks mercy from him and he grants it freely. This is juxtaposed to the pharisee who is 'righteous' by the standards of the time and looks down on her. Ultimately it links our recognition of how sinful we really are with how much we love God.

God forgives us even though we could never ever repay the debt we owe him. We sin and we deserve his wrath eternally, yet in Jesus there is forgiveness: Jesus is God, he lives perfectly and when we put our faith in him he takes our sin. On the cross he died and paid the penalty for our sin, suffering God's wrath in our place. He is the link between love and forgiveness. We need to love him more and more and we can do this by realising how sinful we are more and more and reflecting on how much we have been forgiven. In honesty it is those who have sinned more who realise more how much they have been forgiven and it makes sense that they would have a greater love for God because of it. Obviously this is not an excuse to sin more though - if we love God we will do what he says and we will stop sinning. We can;t use the excuse of sinning more so we will be forgiven more and love God more. It doesn't work like that.
There is complete forgiveness in Jesus. No matter what you've done, no matter who you are, God is willing to forgive anyone who turns to him. We cannot have sinned so badly that God won't forgive us. He is God, he is powerful enough and merciful enough to forgive us completely. To doubt if he would be able to forgive you is to doubt that he is God, because God is the most powerful and merciful being in the universe, and he is certainly more powerful and merciful then our sin. Repent and Believe! Put your faith in him! Only Jesus can save, and he does so freely. Turn to him, he will forgive. Love and obey him. Praise Him!

How much do you owe the moneylender? How much have you been forgiven? How much do you love God as a response to that?

God's Power and Humility

Today in devotions with the year 8 kids, we looked at a number of different verses, exploring God's power, humility, mercy and grace. In Genesis 1 we read:

Genesis 1:1-5

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

God created the universe, and he did it simply by speaking. He is all powerful, he is worthy of all praise and he is the creator. The rest of Genesis 1 explains how God created the rest of creation. He spoke, it happened, and it was good. He is all powerful.

We then turned to Psalm 18:6-15, which details God's might and power. David called to God for help and he describes God as the almighty rescuer. He also mentions that God scatters his enemies. The verse displays God's power more vividly.

After this we turned to Luke 2:1-7

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

We know that Jesus is God. He created the universe. He is all powerful. Yet he was born as a human. Not only that, he was born as a poor human, in a stable because no one would make room for him to be born in the inn. He was rejected from birth, and he was rejected throughout his life. This wasn't by accident, it was prophesied many times in the Old Testament (See Isaiah 53). Jesus came to suffer and die in our place, so that everyone who puts their faith in him and repents of their sin will be saved. Jesus, who was there at creation, Jesus who is all powerful, all-knowing. Jesus who reigns over all fo creation hung dying, bleeding on a cross for our sakes. He did it willingly.

We then turned to Philippians 2:6-11

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross! 

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus humbled himself to save us, even though we don't deserve it one bit. He then rose again, and he is now in heaven interceding for us even though we still don't deserve it. He gave up his power and eternal glory, becoming a man so that he could save us and glorify God. He died in our place. He rose again and he reigns. He will return to judge. So the question is, do you know Jesus? Have you put your faith in him? If no, then you need to consider this because you are sinful and you (like me) deserve hell. Jesus offers forgiveness, but if you reject him then you will face Gods wrath.

If you are a Christian then look at v6 of Philippians 2. We need to act like Jesus. We need to be humble. Jesus is God, yet he humbled himself to die for us. We are humans, we need to be humble enough to help and love each other, and to serve and glorify God in all we do.

I hope that was helpful, challenging and encouraging.
Nat.