HOPE FOR HOPELESSNESS
Now we find that the Law keeps slipping into the picture to point the vast extent of sin. Yet, though sin is shown to be wide and deep, thank God his grace is wider and deeper still! Rom. 5:20, Phillips.
Two couples shared a duplex in suburbia. On one side lived Mary and her husband, Steve, who was in the Navy. Their relationship flourished in spite of extended times of separation when Steve was away at sea. Rhonda and Joe were quite another matter. Though rarely apart for more than a day at a time, the distance between them seemed wider than the Atlantic and Pacific oceans combined.
Much of the tension in the Christian experience is a result of an awful sense of distance between heaven and earth. God is just too far away! If only we could actually hear Him. Or catch a glimpse of Him as did Moses. Or if not of God himself, at least of an angel!
Such longing can wreak havoc in our sense of peace if we allow the fact of our physical separation from God to override the counterbalancing reality of our union with Him. God's friendship with us is far greater than our physical separation from Him! We read: "Now we find that the Law keeps slipping into the picture to point the vast extent of sin. Yet, though sin is shown to be wide and deep, thank God his grace is wider and deeper still!" Let's stop and think about what this text is saying.
We are born into this world separated from God both in body and in spirit. In order for us to recognize how serious is this condition, God gave us His law. It continually shows us the vast extent of our estrangement from Him--mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. However, there is hope for our otherwise hopeless condition! God's love, which we did not ask for and do not deserve, is so wide and deep that it far outreaches any distance between us. To be reunited with Him physically while still alienated spiritually is not the key to eternal life. The physical distance is an expression of God's love to us. Only when the spiritual relationship has been restored will we feel totally comfortable in His presence!
The gulf of separation between God and me is actually only as wide as my unbelieving heart. How glad I am that He has bridged this distance with His matchless love!
Now we find that the Law keeps slipping into the picture to point the vast extent of sin. Yet, though sin is shown to be wide and deep, thank God his grace is wider and deeper still! Rom. 5:20, Phillips.
Two couples shared a duplex in suburbia. On one side lived Mary and her husband, Steve, who was in the Navy. Their relationship flourished in spite of extended times of separation when Steve was away at sea. Rhonda and Joe were quite another matter. Though rarely apart for more than a day at a time, the distance between them seemed wider than the Atlantic and Pacific oceans combined.
Much of the tension in the Christian experience is a result of an awful sense of distance between heaven and earth. God is just too far away! If only we could actually hear Him. Or catch a glimpse of Him as did Moses. Or if not of God himself, at least of an angel!
Such longing can wreak havoc in our sense of peace if we allow the fact of our physical separation from God to override the counterbalancing reality of our union with Him. God's friendship with us is far greater than our physical separation from Him! We read: "Now we find that the Law keeps slipping into the picture to point the vast extent of sin. Yet, though sin is shown to be wide and deep, thank God his grace is wider and deeper still!" Let's stop and think about what this text is saying.
We are born into this world separated from God both in body and in spirit. In order for us to recognize how serious is this condition, God gave us His law. It continually shows us the vast extent of our estrangement from Him--mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. However, there is hope for our otherwise hopeless condition! God's love, which we did not ask for and do not deserve, is so wide and deep that it far outreaches any distance between us. To be reunited with Him physically while still alienated spiritually is not the key to eternal life. The physical distance is an expression of God's love to us. Only when the spiritual relationship has been restored will we feel totally comfortable in His presence!
The gulf of separation between God and me is actually only as wide as my unbelieving heart. How glad I am that He has bridged this distance with His matchless love!
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