“Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
I’ve long been a numbers guy. Numbers just stick in my head. Random numbers. And they don’t go away. Sometimes it’s pretty handy like at my former church, before I was really using a cell phone all that much, when I had almost half the phone numbers of the members memorized. Because I’m a numbers guy, I love looking at data. It doesn’t matter too much what the data is, but sociological research data is some of my favorite to digest, especially when it’s on a topic I care about and from a research outfit whose methodology I trust. I’ve had the chance recently to review some research from the Barna organization into the world of people who are spiritually curious. Let me highlight a couple of things I’ve noticed along the way.
“How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
The first step in wrapping our hearts and minds around the Gospel is accepting our need for salvation. That’s why Paul spends what we know of as the first two and a half chapters of the letter here making the case for the just condemnation of all people regardless of any distinctions (for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God). Because sin and judgment are without distinction, so is salvation. The salvation in Christ is for all those who put their faith in Him as Lord (for we are all Abraham’s children). But what does it mean that we are saved in Christ? Paul tells us some pretty incredible benefits here. Let’s marvel at this together.
“For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
When someone gives you a gift, you often feel a certain amount of loyalty to them. A very small gift yields a very small amount of loyalty, but a very large gift garners much more. To not give any kind of loyalty is to either not actually receive the gift, or else to walk a path of ingratitude which is generally a pretty terrible look. Well, in Christ, God gave us the ultimate gift. Let’s talk about what He gave, and what we should give in return.
“And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
The Gospel isn’t just one thing. It is many things, and all of them are good. It’s the sort of thing where the more you explore it and the deeper you understand it, the more you come to find is there; the more you come to find just how comprehensive it truly is. Paul here has started unpacking the benefits of the Gospel. He started with peace, went to grace and glory, and now he takes us into territory it doesn’t seem like the Gospel should touch. Let’s talk about what the Gospel has to say about our hard times.
In the superlatively successful Broadway show, Hamilton, the Founding Father’s greatest weakness is that he is never satisfied with what he has. He is always reaching and stretching for something more. When pointed in the right direction, this resulted in incredible success and achievement. When pointed in the wrong direction, though, ruin for himself and others. We all have desires that we long to have satisfied. For some of these desires, though, there doesn’t seem to be anything in this world that can do the trick. As we continue in our series, All Signs Point to Jesus, this week we are looking at a sign that points us toward His ability to satisfy all of our desires. Let’s explore the Scriptures together.
Satisfied
When was the last time you felt really and truly satisfied? What was it that gave you that feeling? Maybe it was finishing a really big project and having your contributions graciously recognized by others. It could have been working with another person, teaching them to do something, and then seeing them succeed wildly. Perhaps it was just a really good meal. There are lots of things that might satisfy us in this life. The thing about getting satisfied in this life, though, is that whatever desire it is that was satisfied has a tendency to return. You ate that great meal, but then you were hungry again. In fact, you were probably hungry again by the time the next mealtime rolled around. You finished that one project, but then there was another one behind it. And if there wasn’t, you went looking for one. That one student succeeded, but then there was another student who needed help. And when those desires returned, sometimes the same things satisfied them again, but sometimes they didn’t. Sometimes you needed more. It’s almost like underneath these more common, daily desires we have there are deeper longings that cry out for satisfaction. Yet try as we might, getting these addressed often seems to be just beyond our reach.
The Nexus 