December 21st
| Julie Schiller reads Romans 5:6-11 | Stacia Serafin sings Death Was Arrested | Ben shares a meditation on where God's Love intersects our lives |
DAY 21
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good.
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.
For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.
So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. [Romans 5:6-11]
MEDITATION
On day 2 of this study, I began the meditation with “God’s grace operates in God’s time”.
God is not limited by time.
He created time. Before creation began, God knew exactly who you would be. He knew which would be your best days, and which would be your worst days. It’s those worst days I want to talk about.
Your worst days may be behind you. They may not have yet come. These aren’t the days bad things happen to you or your loved ones. Your worst days are the days you demonstrate how much you hate God.
Don’t be quick to be offended by that. Realize that God’s Word says that not one of us is righteous. We have all been enemies of God at one time or another in our lives. Don’t shy away from that reality. It’s sad and hurtful and awful and reveals the extreme grace God pours out on us.
It isn’t on your holiest day that God’s love is made clearest. It is on your most wretched day, when you have been at your absolute worst. That is the point God’s love is most transcendent in your life. That is the day that Jesus died for you. That is the day,
when you were furthest from God, lost in the dark and headed for destruction that Jesus sprinted into the flames and carried you to safety.
We celebrate Advent because the baby in the manger would grow up to be the Savior on the cross.
PRAYER:
Father, thank you.