Part 29

01 Sep 2021

Romans 1:16-2:10

There is a day of wrath coming.

How easy it is to forget this fact. In the seemingly endless flow of minute, hour, day, week, month, year, decade, rinse and repeat, we can, all too quickly, forget that time is not moving in an endless cycle, nor is it a great stream in whose flow we are momentarily caught and carried along for a stretch before being cast up on the river bank, a desiccated piece of driftwood, the flotsam and jetsam of a life fleeting and meaningless.

No, this stream is going somewhere. The flow of all history is moving towards a specific point, a day that has been set apart, foreordained and predetermined, upon which the God of all creation will draw a line in the sand. He will weigh up the hearts of all who have lived, draw a double line under the sum of His equation, and meet out His judgement accordingly.

We forget this fact to our peril. We forget this to the neglect of who we are as God’s called and chosen. We forget this to the neglect of the mission with which we, His chosen, have been entrusted.

We who are in Christ are God’s people, His children, called to be ambassadors of Christ, entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation by which God makes His appeal to the world to be reconciled to God through Christ.

We, as our Lord before us, are called to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom has a King, His name is Jesus.

In Him we see both the sovereign who reigns over the Kingdom, as well as the one in whom the Kingdom is inaugurated. However, there is coming a day when the King will return to claim that which belongs to Him, and to judge the living and the dead.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men in that He has given humanity over to a debased mind, to pursue the lusts of their hearts to impurity and the dishonouring of their bodies.

In pursuing these lusts of our hearts we heap damage upon ourselves, forever finding reasons and excuses to justify our actions out of minds that have become twisted towards the self and away from the foundation of reason that is God Himself.

As we turn our minds ever more towards self and away from God, we turn away from the logos, the foundation of logic, embracing ever greater degrees of irrationality in the process. We, however, continue on in the course we have set, even in the face of the obvious and increasing irrationality of our age and despite the damage we do to ourselves and to others as a consequence.

God will not stand idly by, watching that which He created for a loving relationship with Himself, doggedly pursue our own debasement. A day of wrath and final judgement has been set and will come to pass in His appointed time.

However, just as His wrath has been revealed from heaven, so too has His righteousness been revealed.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith…” - Romans 1:16-17

God has made a way to escape the coming judgement. He has provided a means by which all of our wrong doing, our wickedness, guilt, sin, and shame can be paid for. A way that ensures our sin can be rightly and appropriately judged so that justice is served, and yet we the sinner can go free.

Christ takes upon Himself the judgement that we deserve on account of the selfishness and sickness of our hearts and their resultant actions.

He stands in our place as our representative to make Himself accountable for our lives and actions.

He takes upon Himself the death that we deserve and bestows upon us as a gift of pure unmerited grace, the life that He deserves.

"…and the righteous shall live by faith.” - Romans 1:18

This is not a righteousness that is our own, that we have earned because of our righteous deeds, it is God’s righteousness granted us in Christ, credited to our account through faith in the Lord Jesus.

Nor is this faith in ourselves, in our own strength or abilities, It is faith in Christ and in Him alone.

And so it is now that we journey inexorably towards that fated day, where the judge will sit upon His throne and weigh the hearts of all who have lived.

On that day there will be only two categories of people, those who have obeyed unrighteousness, pursuing the lusts of their own hearts, seeking after the fulfilment of their own desires, and justifying their selfish actions by use of their debased minds, and those who obey the truth, who obey the righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Those who obey the call to repent of their sin, trust in Christ, and be reconciled to God through Messiah Jesus.

If you have not pledged your allegiance to Christ, then I implore you to do so today. Today is the day of salvation for you.

All you have to do is come before God in prayer. Tell Him, Father, I am sorry for all the wrong that I have done and for the hurt and pain that I have caused to others as well as to myself and you.

After that, tell Him you believe in Jesus, that He has paid the price for all of your sin, and that you put your trust, your faith in Him. That He is King and Lord of your life and that you will do all that He asks you to do and go wherever He says to go.

Then say thank you. Thank you for the life that comes through Christ alone by the Holy Spirit. I pledge myself to living my life in a way that is consistent with this new life you’ve given me.

It’s really that simple, I’m sorry, I believe in you, thank you, I commit myself to you. Easy.

If you have prayed this prayer today then you have become a follower of Jesus, but this is not a path you can or should walk alone. We are designed for relationship, and you will need a community of people to walk out this new found faith with.

Find a church community in your local area today. Tell them that you are a follower of Jesus, and ask them to walk with you on the path.

If you need help with that, contact me via the email address and I will connect you with someone in your area.

I pray for all those who read this, that come the day of God’s wrath, you will be found having heeded that call to the obedience of faith, that you are found as having obeyed the call to be reconciled to God the Father through faith in Christ alone, and that standing in that faith by the power of the Holy Spirit, you will, as He has promised, be granted life eternal which comes through the risen, reigning, and soon returning Lord Jesus Christ the King.