Greetings to you, dear friends! Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!Yesterday we talked about sin being the main cause of sufferings, tragedies and pain in the world. God has given us the solution in Jesus Christ. Jesus came into the world in order to redeem the sins of humanity and to destroy sin and its consequences.
«But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him» (Romans, 5:8-9).
«For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life»(John, 3:16).
«..who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father» (Galatians,1:4).
When God calls us to repent He does it for our own good. God is self-sufficient and does not need anything or anybody. Both our sinful actions and our good deeds do not affect God and do not change His essence. God’s call to repentance is profitable for us and the people around us.The following Scripture verses talk about it. «If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? Or, if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him? If you are righteous, what do you give Him? Or what does He receive from your hand? Your wickedness affects a man such as you, and your righteousness a son of man. Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; they cry out for help because of the arm of the mighty» (Job, 35:6-9).
In this passage we see that the sin of one person affects the lives of others. For example, a drug addict or an alcoholic makes himself and his whole family miserable.The Bible talks about a man named Achan whose sin caused problems for the whole congregation of Israel. This story is described in the Book of Joshua, chapter 7. «Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity» (Joshua, 22:20).
Sin and iniquity is directly connected to suffering and misery on earth today. «Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned» (Romans, 5: 12).
Death entered the world and established its rule because of the sin of one man, Adam. Praise God that the story does not end there. Righteousness, peace and life also came into the world as a result of the actions of one Man – Jesus Christ. «But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. (..) For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as trough one man’s offense judgement came to all man, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous» (Romans, 5: 15, 17-19).
It is not as hopeless as many think. God has already solved the matter of salvation of human race from the rule of death through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.Every one of us has been given free choice. By our lawlessness and sins we can fill our lives and the lives of our loved ones, thus defiling the earth. But through repentance and godly living we can establish the rule of life by God’s grace, affecting not just our life but the whole world.We see that the sin of one man negatively affects not only him or her, but also others. In the same way we see that obedience and righteous living positively affects other people and the whole world.You can ease the situation on earth, making the right choices every day. First, a man needs to repent of his sins and accept Jesus and His righteousness into his heart (if he has not done it yet). Then he needs to make a firm decision to follow Jesus daily. That way he can bring many blessings and spread the life of God around him, like Jesus did. « For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ» (Romans, 5: 17).
When we go through this life with God, we can change the lives of so many people! There is nothing impossible with God!God bless you!Pastor Rufus Ajiboye
