December 7

Romans 3:21 - 8:39

These chapters give us good news and bad news.

Bad news: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

Good news: "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

As I stare at these words, I feel overwhelmed by their meaning. None of us can ever be good enough on our own to be with God. Our depravity cannot be in the presence of His divinity. The level of Holiness that He embodies is so far outside our ability to reach, we cannot comprehend it. In Max Lucado's book In the Grip of Grace, he imagines a scenario where God eliminates all commands and teachings of the Bible and replaces them with this one command: "Thou must jump so high in the air that you touch the moon." Suppose that's it. Suppose that's all we have to do to be saved. There's just one problem: the moon is impossible to reach with our own abilities and strength. It doesn't really matter if one person can jump six feet in the air and another can only jump six inches. Compared to the distance that we all fall short, individual achievement is ridiculously insignificant. Jumping high enough to touch the moon is just as impossible as living a perfect, holy life. Our sinful nature prevents us from having a relationship with God. That is very bad news.

Thankfully, that's not the end. There is good news. While we were still unholy, imperfect, depraved, selfish sinners, God prepared and carried out a plan that would make it possible for us to touch the moon. While we were still sinners, Christ paid the price for our sins. With His help, we are able to achieve the impossible and have a relationship with God. That is very good news.

I encourage everyone to memorize these two verses (Romans 3:23 and 5:8). They remind us of how far we are from God and how far God went to bring us back to Him.

On a personal note, I also think everyone should memorize Romans 8:18 - "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will revealed in us." This is my favorite verse. It is an awesome reminder that no matter how bad our current situation may be, God has planned something so incredible for each one of us that it will completely eclipse any hardship we endured along the way. What an amazing promise to hold on to in our time of need!