Continue On

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Colossians 3:23-24


Continue On

A woman once fretted over the usefulness
of her life. She feared she was wasting
her potential being a devoted wife and mother.
She wondered if the time and energy she invested
in her husband and children would make a difference.

• 
  

At times she got discouraged because so
much of what she did seemed to go
unnoticed and unappreciated. "Is it worth it?"
she often wondered. "Is there something better
that I could be doing with my time?"

• 
  

It was during these moments of questioning
that she heard the still, small voice
of her heavenly Father speak to her heart.
"You are a wife and mother because that is
what I have called you to be. Much of what you do
is hidden from the public eye. But I notice.
Most of what you give is done without remuneration.
But I am your reward. Your husband cannot be the man
I have called him to be without your support. Your
influence upon him is greater than you think and
more powerful than you will ever know. I bless him
through your service and honor him through your love.
Your children are precious to Me. Even more
precious than they are to you. I have entrusted
them to your care to raise for Me. What you
invest in them is an offering to Me.

• 
  

You may never be in the public spotlight.
But your obedience shines as a bright light
before Me. Continue on. Remember
you are My servant. Do all to please Me."

by Roy Lessin

Christ Suffered and Died to Absorb the Wrath of God

This was an excerpt on a single piece of paper that I found in a church that I have been carrying for a few years now. I thought it was the most helpful thing for me in seeing sin as more than just "missing the mark" of a particular standard of living.

"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'"
Galatians 3:13

"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."
Romans 3:25

"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. "
1 John 4:10

If God were not just, there would be no demand for his Son to suffer and die. And if God were not loving, there would be no willingness for his Son to suffer and die. But God is both just and loving. Therefore his love is willing to meet the demands of his justice.
God's law demanded, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Detueronomy 6:5). But we have all loved other things more. This is what sin is--dishonoring God by preferring other things over him, and acting on those preferences. Therefore, the Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). We glorify what we enjoy most. And it isn't God.
Therefore sin is not small, because it is not against a small Sovereign. The seriousness of an insult rises with the dignity of the one insulted. The Creator of the universe is infinitely worthy of respect and admiration and loyalty. therefore, failure to love him is not trivial--it is treason. It defames God and destroys human happiness.
Since God is just, he does not sweep these crimes under the rug of the universe. He feels a holy wrath against them. They deserve to be punished, and he has made this clear: "For the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). "The soul who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4).
There is a holy curse hanging over all sin. Not to punish would be unjust. The demeaning of God would be endorsed. A lie would reign at the core of reality. Therefore, God says, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them" (Galatians 3:10; Deuteronomy 27:26).
But the love of God does not rest with the curse that hangs over all sinful humanity. He is not content to show wrath, no matter how holy it is. Therefore God sends his won Son to absorb his wrath and bear the curse for all who trust him. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13).
This is the meaning of the word "propitiation" in the text quoted above (Romans 3:25). It refers to the removal of God's wrath by providing a substitute. The substitute is provided by God himself. The substitute, Jesus Christ, does not just cancel the wrath; he absorbs it and diverts it from us to himself. God's wrath is just, and it was spent, not withdrawn.
Let us not trifle with God or trivialize his love, We will never stand in awe of being loved by God until we reckon with the seriousness of our sin and the justice of his wrath against us. but when, by grace, we waken to our unworthiness, then we may look at the suffering and death of Christ and say, "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son the be the [wrath-absorbing] propitiation for our sins" (I John 4:10).

If anyone knows who the original author is, please let me know as it is unknown to me.