Lam 4:1-5:22 | PS 103:1-22| Prov 26:23 | Heb 2:1-18
Many people make rules and we are obliged to follow them or else. If the posted speed limit is 55 mph, and I choose to drive 80mph, I can disagree, I can think the rule is stupid, etc., but if I get pulled over the officer will not care about my opinion or any excuses. If I’m playing baseball and disagree with three strikes and you’re out, three outs and the innings over, etc., I can disagree but the pitcher will stop pitching after my third strike, and the opposing team will leave the field after the third out. These rules apply to everything from behavior on an airplane, what is required to get through school or get a job. So, why do so many have such an issue with how God chose to redeem mankind. He created everything in this sandbox we call earth, including all of us characters, so why wouldn’t He also have the right to choose how one can leave the sandbox and enter one’s eternal destination. Many can scream unfair, but He is the one who judges. Many can demand there be many options and many roads, but He gets to choose the one option, the one road. So, rather than wasting time on what you might think is fair or right, doesn’t it make more sense to simply accept His ruling on the topic, considering the alternative consequence should you choose to reject His free offer.
We read in Hebrews 2:3-4, “So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.” God’s choice was announced by His solution, Jesus Christ, Himself, and He was authenticated in many ways to prove He was who He was. We read further in 2:9-10, “What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.” Not only did God choose how we are to be saved, but lovingly He didn’t require anything on our part to achieve it, as it is all based on the finished work of Jesus on the cross. We go on to see this dilemma of maintaining God’s justice and grace in 2:14-15, “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.”
None of us deserve heaven. None of us are really that good. Not even one sin that is unpaid will permit entry into heaven. You can choose to think it is unfair, you can push for what you deem is fair, but when all is said and done, one day each of us will bend our knee before the Judge of the Universe, and there is no jury, no debate, simply a verdict, and it all rests upon whether or not you will simply accept God’s salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ, or not. So, today, decide for yourself: debate or submit to His authority. Simply spend time in the entirety of His Word and God’s plan is the only plan that makes sense.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: