Thursday, December 22, 2011
Romans 8:34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
POTENTIAL
A great-grandmother in the closing years of her life was remembering all the changes that she had witnessed. She had lived through two world wars and much, much more. She had been blessed with a fairly large family, and two of her sons had already passed on before her. One of them had been a stillborn. The other had been thirty-three years old when a work-related accident had claimed his life. "Which was harder to bear?" she was asked.
Without hesitation she answered, "The baby was the hardest to lose! My other son had lived his life for over thirty years, but the baby had his whole life in front of him!" His whole life in front of him -- now that is potential! When John the Baptist was born, people were talking throughout the hill country of Judea, saying, "What kind of a child will this be?" (Luke 1:66). And when Jesus was born, angels were talking above the hill country of Judea, saying, " ... on earth peace, goodwill to men" (Luke 2:14).
The peace would come from sinners who would escape condemnation for their sins. The goodwill (favor) that God would do for us would be to send His one and only Son to be condemned in the sinners' place. That Son would grow up and die -- more than that, be raised to life -- to intercede with God for us. Now that's potential worth celebrating!
What harm can sin and death then do?
The true God now abides with you.
Let hell and Satan rage and chafe,
Christ is your brother -- ye are safe.
