The Joy of Glory

Romans 3:21-26 (click here)
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:23-26)

Reflection
How can God forgive sinners?

That’s a question nobody is asking and everybody should be asking it! We all just expect God to forgive… that’s kinda his job isn’t it? And, aren’t I worth it! I mean… deep down, I think we all believe that we actually deserve forgiveness. We ironically believe that we deserve grace.

In reality, not only do we not deserve grace, but giving grace is actually a real problem for God! For, how can he graciously forgive sinners and still be righteous? In other words, how could he sweep sin under the rug and still be doing what is right?

How can God forgive sinners?

None of us would think a judge is just if he or she simply let all criminals go free. That would not be right! None of us would think an employer just if they simply let one of their employees take advantage of everyone else by skipping work all the time and blaming their unproductiveness on others. That would not be right! None of us would think our parents were just if they let our siblings get away with everything, especially if it meant we had to take responsibility for their mistakes! That would not be right!

In an infinitely greater way, it would not be right… God would not be righteous if he simply swept sin under the rug. No! He treats sin justly, rightly… it all bears the wrath it deserves! So the question lingers…

How can God forgive sinners?

God himself answered that question by taking on flesh! Jesus Christ served as our substitute and bore our sin along with all the wrath it deserved. God’s righteous justice was poured out upon our sin at the cross! There… God was just! AND at the cross God was the justifier, making sinners right with him so that they may be forgiven!

“This was to show God’s righteousness” declares Romans 3! This was to show how God can forgive sinners! Not by sweeping sin under the rug, but by sweeping it onto himself! This is the heart of the Gospel good news… God substituted himself for you!

We serve a righteous God who deals justly with sin… and he does so in the most loving way so that we get him!

How can God forgive sinners? By being the only one who is just… AND the justifier!

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Acts 17:16-34 (click here)
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “In him we live and move and have our being…” (Acts 17:24-28)

Reflection
What has God given you?

That question reminds me of a book I used to read to my daughter, Talitha, nearly every day. It was about the moon boasting about his own brightness.

By the end, the moon realizes that he possesses no light of his own, but simply reflects the light of the sun.

Are we not just like the moon?

Everything we have is a gift! Everything! Every breath… every movement… every ounce of our being. Truly, in HIM we live and move and have our being! And if everything we have is a gift, then we have nothing in which to boast! 1 Corinthians 4:7, “…What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”

This reality should lead us to worship! Not because God needs something from us! He is the giver, not the “getter” in this relationship. That is Paul’s point in Acts 17 as he preaches to the Athenians on Mars Hill. God has given us everything… he is not far from us… he is our everything… he is our boast!

We are just like the moon. We have no light of our own. We are made to reflect the sun.

What has God given you and me?

EVERYTHING!

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Acts 7 (click here)
…The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, “Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.” Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. (Acts 7:2-5)

Reflection
Has God been faithful?

Whenever we ask ourselves that question we naturally begin to look at the story of our lives. We look for evidence of God’s faithfulness within the brief time period that we have walked on his planet… but our story is bigger than that and so is the story of God’s faithfulness!

God has been faithful to his people, of which we are a part… and if we want to see God’s faithfulness to us as then we must look at this greater, grander story! This is one of the reasons we have the whole of Scripture!

The grand storyline of the Bible can help us to see how it is that God is being faithful to us as one of his people, even when our individual circumstances may make it seem lack God’s faithfulness is lacking.

Just think about the promises God gave to Abraham which Stephen describes for us in the beginning of his sermon in Acts 7. Stephen’s whole message is about God’s faithfulness to do what he has promised for his people, and that begins with Abraham to whom the Lord promised a land filled with his own descendants which would be as countless as the stars. Yet, in his own lifetime, Abraham didn’t have one square foot of the promised land that he could call his own. And, as for those countless descendants… he had one son.

But Abraham believed God… he trusted… and we can look back and see God’s overwhelming faithfulness to fulfill his promises!

This goes beyond just Abraham… think about the fact that there were Israelites who were born, lived, and died in the wilderness. They would have been told stories of how God had faithfully rescued them out of slavery to Egypt in the past… and they would be told stories of how God had promised to faithfully give them a land in the future… but many lived and died without ever actually seeing either of those things. They lived and died in the desert!

Many of us may feel like this is our own individual story… that we are living and dying in the desert. When we look at our individual story it may be hard to believe that God is faithful… and this is why we need to see the grand story of God’s faithfulness to his people!

Open Scripture… see that story… and see that you are included in it! That grand story of God’s faithfulness to his people IS the story of his faithfulness to you!

Has God been faithful? YES!

Will he be faithful? YES!

All of Sciprture reveals that he is faithful to his people… and his people includes you!

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.