Many people are ‘over it’ when it comes to the current focus on the marriage debate. In this passage, as we understand it in context, we can consider a different perspective. About 2600 years ago the nation of Israel did something which was very provoking to God and caused him to withdraw his presence from the temple. The people had brought into the temple an idol to be worshiped and placed it alongside the altar. The altar was an Old Testament representation of what Jesus was coming to do on the cross. God used the nation of Babylon as his instrument to severely discipline his people for their idolatry. He had said ‘You shall have no other God’s before me’. This resulted in them being deported to Babylon and the temple was destroyed.

Someone may ask ‘how does this relate to today?’ The answer is that God could be using the legalizing of Same Sex Marriage (SSM) and subsequent impact on freedom of religion to remove idolatry from the church. Over the years things have crept into the church which have been placed alongside the gospel and have had the effect of nullifying, at least to some extent, God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Perhaps this has caused him to withdraw, in some measure, from the Western church in our day.

It may be a call for repentance which would result in the removal of idols and actually strengthen the witness of his people in our times … just like it did in Ezekiel’s. Even though we disagree with those who support SSM, they may be used to bring about, indirectly, a renewed acceptance of the good news of Jesus …’For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that all who believe in him should not perish but have eternal life’.

 

 

 

Different people have different views on what makes a good leader. In this passage we see that King David wins battles … God gave him the victories over his enemies. We find, however, David behaving in ways which might make us feel uncomfortable. In one instance, two thirds of the survivors were put to death … a reminder that only in the coming of the Lord Jesus can God’s kingdom truly be seen.

David also showed God’s kindness to a potential rival. What motivated David to do this? … his own experience of God’s kindness. David did even more than just being kind to Mephibosheth, he entered into a personal relationship with Him. This is a wonderful preview of God’s grace in Christ … being reconciled as a free gift through faith when we were once his enemies. All who receive this priceless gift are the Lord’s Mephibosheths.

King David had come to a time when there was peace in the land. His enemies had been defeated. Then in this passage we find that he desires to build a house for God. Was it the right time? God says, through Nathan the prophet to David … ‘are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?’ David’s timing is not right.

God’s grace to David, past, present and future would, however, continue. There is a link here to the much earlier promise given to Abraham. God says to David … ‘Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me.’ This was fulfilled, in part, through David’s son, Solomon, who built the temple in Jerusalem but David’s kingdom should not be limited to just an earthly line. It is fulfilled in the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ, the perfect son who would never fail.

This kingdom is built in Jesus going to the cross. All that the grace and humility of God represented, and which was shown to David, is fulfilled in Jesus. This is now for us. We become part of this house not by anything we have accomplished or merit but simply by trusting in him alone.

 

 

The early church in Rome was made up of believers from two very different backgrounds. Some had been brought up as Jews …… others had not. There were tensions between the two groups and so the apostle Paul wrote a pastoral letter to the church. In this letter he explains what they have in common, which is the essential thing …… both groups of believers have been made right with God by trusting in Jesus Christ.

This would have raised a question for those with a Jewish background. What about God’s Law summarized in the Ten Commandments? They had been trained to obey this Law. The non-Jews had not. Paul uses two illustrations by way of an answer. The first one is from marriage. It shows that people must be released from trying to be made right with God by how well they keep the Law (the first husband). They must only rely on what Jesus (the second husband) has accomplished for them. This is received by faith, not anything a person does or does not do.

The second illustration is about a very troubled person. This further shows that trying to obey the Law cannot make someone right with God. This is even though the Law is good and alerts people to those things in them which are wrong. They must only trust in Jesus otherwise there will be divided loyalties which cause a conflict within the person.

 

 

Many people are ‘over it’ when it comes to the current focus on the marriage debate. In this passage, as we understand it in context, we can consider a very different scenario. About 2600 years ago the nation of Israel did something which was very provoking to God and caused him to withdraw his presence from the temple. The people had brought into the temple and idol and placed it alongside the altar. The altar was an Old Testament representation of what Jesus was coming to do on the cross. God used the nation of Babylon as his instrument to discipline his people. This resulted in them being deported to Babylon and the temple was destroyed.

Someone may ask ‘how does this relate to the marriage debate?’ The answer could be that God is using the legalizing of Same Sex Marriage (SSM) and subsequent impact on freedom of religion to remove idolatry from the church. Over the years things have crept into the church which have been placed alongside the gospel and have had the effect of nullifying, at least to some extent, God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Perhaps this has caused him to withdraw, in some measure, from the Western church in our day.

It may be a call for repentance which would result in the removal of idols and actually strengthen the witness of his people in our times … just like it did in Ezekiel’s. This is also another reason to show love towards those who support SSM, even though we disagree with them They may be used to bring about, indirectly, a renewed acceptance of the good news of Jesus …’For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that all who believe in him should not perish but have eternal life’.

 

 

 

 

 

In these passages we find information about who we are. We are told that God created us in his image and has graciously supplied our food as well as the privilege of ruling over his creation. We also find the cause of why we do things that are not right. It is because Adam and Eve, our first parents disobeyed God and damaged their relationship with Him. God could no longer walk with them as he had previously and their life became very hard. This passed on to all their descendants. It is called ‘the fall’.

There is also some ‘good news’ however. Whilst Satan ‘the serpent’ had tempted Eve to disobey, we are told that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. This is a reference to the future coming of Jesus Christ. He defeated Satan at the cross by taking the punishment we deserved because of our connection to Adam and Eve as their descendants. When we receive what Jesus has done for us at the cross, by faith, as a free gift, our relationship with God is restored and we have ‘new life’ because of God’s grace to us.

 

 

There are many aspects to this debate which concern who we are, why we are here, and how we are to relate to other people.

In these passages we have a higher wisdom. We can be so busy looking horizontally at things that we forget there is another dimension. They will take time to read but it is well worth the effort.

 

 

This is a very valid question to ask for someone who has been thinking about the gospel (‘good news’) but not understanding the Christian life. Most Christians can identify with a person who may be considering this question, ‘how do I get faith’, because there was a time in their life when they didn’t believe either. There was a time when they had some knowledge of God and the gospel but it didn’t seem to make sense to them.

The simple answer to the question is that ‘faith comes by hearing’ …… i.e. reading the Scriptures (the gospels are a good place to start) and especially listening to the preaching of the gospel. One of the Links from this site goes to a church website for listening to sermons on line.

It should also be said that believing in Jesus cannot be separated from having a sense of need. The prodigal son in the well-known parable returned to the father out of a sense of need. Jesus name means ‘saviour’. He came to save people from their sins. Here is another reason to read the Scriptures or listen to sermons because in them we begin to see that we are all very needy people.

 

 

 

The ‘what’ of the Christian message is familiar to most people. The ‘why’ and the ‘how’ however are much less well known.

In Romans, Paul begins by putting his name to the letter and then briefly telling about  the ‘what’ before he goes on to the ‘why’ and the ‘how’. We find that the gospel (good news) was promised in the Old Testament Scriptures, it is about God’s Son, descended from David (in one sense) and resurrected from the dead.

We also catch a glimpse of Paul’s heart, addressing the believers in Rome as ‘beloved’ …… showing his care and concern for them and hope to visit them.

This first part of Chapter 1 finishes with Paul giving a glimpse of the ‘why’. He says he is not ashamed of the gospel, the momentous truths about Jesus dying on the cross and rising again from death, because it is God’s way of saving people and we now get a glimpse of the ‘how’ …..  it is by faith. Faith is simply ‘confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see’.

Verse 17 is the key …….. it contains a quote from the Old Testament “the righteous man shall live by faith”. Another way of saying this is ‘the one who through faith is righteous shall live’. Its not about what we have accomplished but our participation, by faith, in what has been accomplished for us by Jesus Christ on the cross.

 

 

 

We do a lot of waiting in life … hospital visits … birthdays to come … on the wedding day. There are also times when this waiting can be stressful. In this passage, Psalm 27, David gives encouragement to ‘wait on the Lord’ knowing that this will not be in vain. With him there is nothing to be afraid of. God is David’s fortress, security and comfort. David was a man who trusted in the Lord.

This Psalm reminds us that no matter what the enemy does to us, as believers, eventually he will fall. David can still have confidence in the Lord to do what is right because he has achieved salvation for him through the cross. His deepest desire and longing is to be with God who has saved him.

David seeks the Lord and finds reassurance. Christ endured malicious accusations, suffered on the cross, waited 3 days and was then vindicated. As the Lord didn’t let go of Jesus, so he will not let go of those who are united to him by faith when we face accusations. We need to learn to wait for the Lord. The cross gives us the greatest confidence … it was fixed in time so we can be sure our waiting will not be in vain.