Friday; December 1

When we envision the final judgement, what comes to mind?  For some, it might be the image of a an old-fashioned scale.  On one side is all the sins we have committed and, on the other side, we have all the good that we have done.  In the end, we hope that the good outweighs the bad (and maybe – if we find ourselves lacking – we hope that God will place His thumb on the good side of the scale to tip the balance in our favor).  Unfortunately, this imagery is contrary to the basic principles of theology because any amount of sin – no matter how minute – will outweigh all of the good we can ever do.  So, in view of a seemingly hopeless situation, where do we turn?  The answer is found in the vision of Jesus hanging on the cross.  This image is the profound answer to our sin problem.  On our own, we cannot balance the scales through a lifetime of effort, but He was willing to solve the problem by spending three days in a grave.  The Bible explains it this way, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”.  (Ephesians 2:4-9)
Do we appreciate this gift of God?  Are we willing to dedicate our lives to Him and be His advocates on earth?  These may sound like deep philosophical quandaries, but here is a practical one:  are we willing to take a couple hours out of our weekend and praise His name for what He has done for us? 
Think about it! 

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