Sodom and Gomorrah (1)

Posted on by korgrocker

“Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.”
2 Peter 2:6 NLT

We read the account of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18. But we pick up the context from Genesis 17:1-2, “When  Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants”. At this point his name was changed from Abram to Abraham (“Father of Many”). Later on this chapter his wife, Sarai, also had a name change, to Sarah, but in the whole touching dialogue between the Lord and Abraham we see a relationship building. Chapter 18 in Genesis starts with the Lord returning to Abraham with two companions, and the hospitable Abraham fed them a meal, after which the men started to look across at Sodom. God had a plan for this city and He decided to tell Abraham about it. ““Should I hide my plan from Abraham?” the Lord asked. “For Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. … So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant. I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know.”” (Genesis 18:17-18, 20-21).

The two men with the Lord started their journey to Sodom, but the Lord stayed with Abraham, who had an inkling about what was going to happen. We then have the extraordinary conversation between the Lord and Abraham, where Abraham interceded for any righteous people who may have been found in Sodom. Genesis 18:25, Abraham speaking, “Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”. The conclusion was that God would not destroy Sodom if He found 10 righteous people there. Estimates about the population of Sodom vary widely, but it appears there may have been about a thousand or so. Living close to these two cities as he did, Abraham must have known about the wicked practices going on. But what do we pilgrims make of the Lord becoming interested in Sodom and Gomorrah because of a “great outcry” and “flagrant sin”? We read in Genesis 19:4-5, “But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”” So perhaps we can conclude that God was appalled with the sin of homosexuality and was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of it. Sodom gave its name to the English word “sodomy”, in the sense of “copulation between two men, whether consensual or forced.” But we receive a little more enlightenment from Ezekiel 16:49-50, “Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. She was proud and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen”. 

Such was the relationship between God and Abraham that Abraham was able to remind God of His righteous obligations. He said, “Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” It is something that we pilgrims sometimes forget – God is a God of righteousness as well as love. Of judgement as well as compassion and kindness. God is perfect in all His ways – Psalm 18:30, “God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection“. So everything that God is, is perfect. His attitudes, His behaviour, His thoughts, and His words. So the wicked behaviour in Sodom and Gomorrah was an offence to God and something that reached Him as “a great outcry”. We pilgrims sometimes take for granted God’s grace, in allowing us sinful people to continue our lives here on earth. But there is no sin greater or lesser than any other. Paul wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). But, praise glory and thanks to God, we read in Romans 3:24, “Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” Such grace wasn’t available to the ancient people living in Sodom and Gomorrah, but nevertheless righteous behaviour was not unknown to them. They knew the difference between right and wrong. Between righteousness and wickedness. They made the wrong choices to satisfy their sinful desires. 

There will come a day when the choices of mankind will bring them before God. There, “the Judge of all the earth” will do what is right. So we pilgrims share His grace to those around us, and by so doing achieve two outcomes – we hold back the righteous judgement of God, and we introduce sinners to our wonderful Saviour.

Dear God. In fear and trembling we remember that You are both a God of love and a God of righteousness. Thank You for Your grace. Amen.

Sinning Angels

Posted on by korgrocker

“For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment.”
2 Peter 2:4 NLT

Peter told his readers that even angels are not immune from God’s righteousness and justice. The graphic language of this verse stimulates imaginations into all sorts of pictures. But we never think of angels as being sinners, that is until we read Genesis 6. “Then the people began to multiply on the earth, and daughters were born to them. The sons of God saw the beautiful women and took any they wanted as their wives” (Genesis 6:1-2). Theologians widely interpret the phrase “sons of God” as meaning angels in the context, and it is believed that the rebellious satan tried the strategy of mixing heavenly and earthly beings in a sexual relationship. And we find out later in this chapter in Genesis that giants resulted from the union. “In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times” (Genesis 6:4).

We pilgrims know of course that God desires justice. He is perfectly righteous in all His ways, as we read in Psalm 145:17, “The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness“. We read in Psalm 7:11, “God is a righteous judge, a God who displays his wrath every day“. So Peter wrote in our verse today that “God did not spare even the angels who sinned”. It is widely thought that demons are fallen angels, angels who have sinned, so the timing of their incarceration in “hell” (actually in the Greek this place is called Tartarus, a holding area just for these rebellious and sinful angels). We don’t know when these angels were thrown into Tartarus, but it is probably still some time in the future. What we do know is that God didn’t “spare” them, even though they were angels. The use of this word “spare” reminds us of what Paul wrote in Romans 8:32, “Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else“? This word “spare” means not holding back. It implies a necessary, but painful, act, perhaps irrevocable. So we might give away our “spare” change into a donation box, or take a “spare” item to a charity shop. But what God refused to “spare” was precious and dear to Him. It was an act of incredible and amazing love and kindness that He even gave up His Son for us. God spared Him.

There are consequences to sin. It has to be judged and dealt with, and the spirit realm is full of the spirits of sinful angels and people, waiting for that time when they are judged for what they have done in their life. Angels are immortal beings but they, like humans, have the ability to make choices. Satan, who, from what we can see in the Bible, was also called Lucifer, was the senior angel, a worship leader in Heaven. Yet he made a choice to rebel against God and suffered the consequences, being thrown out of Heaven along with a large number of angels who sided with him. And Peter reminded his readers that they would one day come to a miserable end in a holding place called Tartarus. 

Is all this of any relevance to us pilgrims? After all, have we ever seen an angel? And aren’t they responsible for their own actions, just as we are? For me, this verse in 2 Peter that we are considering today is a warning that one day the sinful universe in which we live will be rebalanced. Sin will be no more, and all those who have made right choices in wanting to live God’s way through Jesus will find themselves living with Him forever. But all those who reject God will find out that He has rejected them. God has done everything possible to make available eternal life for all those who desire it. He of course could have created a race of robots, zombies unable to make choices for themselves, but instead He created mankind in His image (Genesis 1:27), taking a risk that they would want to live with Him forever. We know what happened, as the Genesis story unfolded. But God had a plan for the future of His creation, involving His very own Son, through whom everything was created (John 1:3). And, for that plan, we will be eternally grateful.

Father God. Once again we praise and thank You for Your grace and mercy. Through Jesus You have accepted us as righteous in Your sight. We are a truly privileged people. Amen.

God’s Grace

Posted on by korgrocker

“I have written and sent this short letter to you with the help of Silas, whom I commend to you as a faithful brother. My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace. Your sister church here in Babylon sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark. Greet each other with a kiss of love. Peace be with all of you who are in Christ.”
1 Peter 5:12-14 NLT

After a letter full of encouragement and instructions, Peter summarised the contents with the words, “My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you”. The five churches in Asia Minor must have been struggling to survive. The persecution they were experiencing was almost too much for them to bear, and they must have often thought about giving up. So Pastor Peter sent a letter and his “faithful brother” Silas to help them. And with the two messengers, written and living, the early Christians would have been really encouraged. 

Throughout his letter, Peter reminded his readers of the grace of God. In his introduction, he prayed, “may God give you more and more grace…”. In 1:13, he wrote, ” … Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world“. He reminded them in 2:9 that they were “a chosen people” and “God’s very own possession”. And throughout the letter he alluded to Christ’s suffering, but never minimising their own. 

The word “grace” is not uncommon in our society. We are aware of “grace and favour” homes, where tenants are allowed to live for a peppercorn rent, if any at all. We talk about a boorish person lacking “social graces”. But the word “grace” really comes alive when we associate it with God. God’s grace, His unmerited favour, has always been there. Through Moses, He gave the Law, but even that was a gracious act providing a method using animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins. God hasn’t changed, even though we now talk about being in a season of grace. The animal sacrifices were replaced by a much greater mitigation for sin – Jesus. He became the sacrifice God demanded as a penalty for our sins. We read in Hebrews 2:17, “Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people“. But the Law is still there. Jesus said, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose” (Matthew 5:17). The Apostle John wrote, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

Through God’s grace we can now find life through His Spirit. Romans 7:6, “But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit“. When Jesus came to this earth, He found that God’s intentions through the Law, in showing us our sins, had been turned by the religious leaders into a legalistic stick which they used to beat the people. God’s grace became hidden in a swamp of rules and regulations. But like a breath of fresh air, God’s grace flooded over us through Jesus’ revelation. His kindness to sinful man must drive us to our knees in repentance and gratitude. And there, in a place of worship, we feel what His grace really means. There is nothing we can do to earn it, because grace is a free gift from God. With outstretched hands we accept it. For all eternity.

Father God. Your grace is sufficient for us, today and forevermore. Thank You. Amen.

Salvation Prophesied

Posted on by korgrocker

“This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you.”
1 Peter 1:10 NLT

Peter reminded his readers that they were in a privileged place because their whole experience and knowledge of salvation was denied to the Old Testament prophets. They wrote down some prophesies that looked forward to the coming Messiah, but they lacked the knowledge of when this would happen, who the Messiah would be, and how it would happen. They of course had some incredible insights but lacked the detail made available to the believers in the early Church many years later, and after Christ’s death and resurrection. Those old prophets felt the stirring of the Holy Spirit within them and they wrote down what they believed they heard. Prophets such as Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel all looked forward to the day of the Lord without experiencing the clarity they so wanted. Jesus Himself told His disciples “I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it” (Matthew 13:17). 

The Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah are amazing, considering most were written hundreds of years before Jesus came. Snippets of what the old prophets saw through the promptings of the Holy Spirit even started to appear in Genesis. But let’s look at Isaiah’s writings. He wrote down what he heard God say about the Messiah, “He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth”” (Isaiah 49:6). The early believers in the five provinces were the fulfilment of that prophecy. Psalm 22 builds a prophetic picture of how the Messiah’s life was to end. But Jesus Himself repeated the prophecy of Isaiah 61, in Luke 4:18-21, ““The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come. ” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!””

Fast forward to the first century AD and all became clear. The violent death of the Son of Man ushered in the age of opportunity – mankind’s salvation by grace. Those old prophets died without ever experiencing the salvation they could see coming. We pilgrims are also in a privileged position because we too have experienced God’s love and grace. The old Apostle John wrote, “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:9-10). How can we reject God’s grace? How can we say that this is not for us, and we’ll work out our own salvation instead? But most people in our Western societies do. They have chosen the broad way that leads to destruction. But we pilgrims have grasped God’s grace with both hands and will never let go. Ever. And one day we’ll cross the threshold into His presence, saved by grace.

Dear Father God. We worship You with grateful hearts today and every day. Amen.

God’s Great Mercy

Posted on by korgrocker

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.”
1 Peter 1:3-5 NLT

In the previous verse, Peter wrote about grace. But he moves on now, to writing about God’s “great mercy”. What’s the difference? I came across this definition recently, “In His mercy, God does not give us [the] punishment we deserve, namely hell; while in His grace, God gives us the gift we do not deserve, namely Heaven”. That mercy is surely “great”. Imagine turning up in a court of law, knowing that we were guilty of the crime for which we have been charged, only to hear the judge declare us not guilty through an act of mercy. Our guilt was undisputed. Our punishment was deserved. But the judge had mercy on us. It will never happen we think, but God’s mercy extends well beyond that analogy, because He not only declares that we are guilt-free. By His grace He allows us to be born again into His Kingdom.

Nicodemus, in his night-time visit to Jesus, couldn’t get his mind around this at all. The concept of being reborn spiritually had never occurred to him. We read his earth-bound response to being born again in John 3:4, ““What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”” Jesus clearly explained to him the difference between a natural birth and a spiritual birth, and the necessity of both to be come a child of God. Jesus said in John 3:5-7, “Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’” God, in His great mercy, and through the Holy Spirit, brought us believers through a second birth.

Sadly, today, being a “born again” believer is treated with scorn and contempt by the media and anyone else who considers spiritual matters the source of ridicule. But Jesus was very clear about the necessity of being reborn spiritually to become citizens of, and in, the Kingdom of Heaven. If we only experience a natural, physical birth, that is how our lives will end, because we know that one day our natural bodies will die and decay, one way or another. But a spiritually-born person will find that after their natural bodies have died, their spirits will continue to live in God’s Kingdom. He promised never to leave us. And one day our spirits will be united with a new body. We read what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:1,3,  “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands … For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies“.

God’s grace and mercy are intertwined into a loving outworking of His character. There was that moment when God chose to express His love for mankind by sending His Son, Jesus, to this planet, to save us from the consequences of our sins. We didn’t deserve such kindness. Jesus didn’t deserve to die. But it was all part of God’s plan. We are spiritual beings and God has planted within us His Spirit as a guarantee of the life to come. God is mercy. He can’t be anything else.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your Heavenly blessings, so rich and undeserved. We worship You today and every day. Amen.

The Lord’s Grace

Posted on by korgrocker

“But everyone knows that you are obedient to the Lord. This makes me very happy. I want you to be wise in doing right and to stay innocent of any wrong. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”
Romans 16:19-20 NLT

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you”, Paul concludes. What a lovely thought to leave with the Roman believers. The word “grace” means favour, blessings and kindness. But the sobering thought is that because of our sin we deserve the opposite. That God chooses to bless us through His grace inevitably must bring us to our knees in grateful worship. We read Ephesians 2:8, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” We don’t deserve fellowship and life with God, because He is a sinless and pure Being, whereas we are sinful and impure. But the fact is that Jesus took on Himself the punishment that we deserved for our sins and in return He gave us His righteousness, so that rather than see sinful humans, God sees Jesus. That’s divine grace!

Paul’s prayer about the grace of the Lord being with us means that we must be gracious in our relationships with others. Our selfish behaviour often upsets other people. Other people’s selfish behaviour often upsets us. But as we extend the grace of God to others, two things have an opportunity to happen. Firstly, God will be able to reveal Himself through our kindness. Secondly, as we share God’s grace, we too will experience His kindness within us. Paul wrote that we must even “clothe” ourselves in grace. Colossians 3:12, “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience”. 

Another area of grace comes in forgiveness. In Colossians 3:13, Paul wrote, “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others”. That’s grace.

There is a lovely gracious blessing that the Lord instructed Moses to give to the priests. We read in Numbers 6:23-27, “Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing: ‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favour and give you his peace.’ Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.”

This is how God’s grace works – He has poured it out on us so that we can do the same to those around us. We can’t show God’s grace unless we have received it ourselves. So when Paul issued the greeting “May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you” he was praying that the grace we receive through Jesus would enhance and improve every day of our lives. Thank You Lord!

Dear Father God. Your grace is limitless and eternal. May it transform our lives and the communities where we live. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Boasting

Posted on by korgrocker

“Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them. They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.”
Romans 15:18-19 NLT

Boasting is usually an objectionable trait. I’m sure we have all met a person who doesn’t stop “blowing his own trumpet” about his achievements, his lovely garden, his latest car, his sporting prowess, his … All things that are materialistic or worldly, and relatively unimportant in the Kingdom of God. Boasting is a form of pride, which is a sin. Solomon, thought to be the person who wrote Proverbs, recorded the following, “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). But Paul confessed to being a boaster, about something far more significant. His testimony was impressive. He could talk about the wonderful things that God had done, by “bringing the Gentiles to God”. 

Paul had much to boast about. In 2 Corinthians 11, we read about Paul’s concern that the Corinthian church was being corrupted by false apostles. These were people who claimed to be just as good as Paul, but he accused them of delivering error, as we read in 2 Corinthians 11:4, “You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed”. Paul was quite scathing about these people. About his message he wrote, “But I will continue doing what I have always done. This will undercut those who are looking for an opportunity to boast that their work is just like ours. These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:12-14). He went on, “And since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too” (2 Corinthians 11:18). Referring to the false apostles, Paul went on, “ … But whatever they dare to boast about—I’m talking like a fool again—I dare to boast about it, too” (2 Corinthians 11:21b). 

Paul then went on to list all the privations and danger that he had experienced while disseminating the message of God’s Good News. And then he finished this list with, “If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am” (2 Corinthians 11:30). We turn the page to the next chapter and read about an experience he said he could boast about. 2 Corinthians 12:1, “This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord”. His visit to the third Heaven (where God and His angels live) must have been so amazing that it would have done his street cred no harm at all. But he wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:5, “That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses”. We know of course what Paul’s weakness was – he wrote, ” … So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me” (2 Corinthians 12:7b-9).

Paul was kept from being conceited by having to dependent on Jesus. But in it all he directed the glory to God. His life was totally sold out for Jesus. He didn’t boast about his tent making skills, or the number of miles he walked every day. His boasting was a testimony of God’s grace and love and the power of the Holy Spirit. At every opportunity we too should “boast” about what God has done in our lives. Our testimonies of God’s saving grace surely count for much and will shine as bright as a beacon in this sad and dark generation.

Father God. You have done so much for us, but please forgive us for holding back on speaking out our testimonies of Your love and grace. Please lead us to the right person today, so that we can give them too the opportunity of sharing what You have done for them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.