This morning was fruitful, Father, but this afternoon was a hodgepodge of things. May our time together this evening be productive in shining forth Your light. Amen.
Romans 5:6-11 (<<click here to read the passage)
I have a sweet young lady on my high school route who tends to forget things on my bus – usually, it’s her water bottle (I recognize it by now and give it to her when she gets on in the afternoon.) She has also accidentally left her phone in her seat. One of the last times, knowing it was hers, I swung by the high school after my elementary route and was just going to leave it at the front desk. I used my ID to enter the main entrance and who should walk by the inner set of doors, but the phone’s owner! She was heading to her next class!
Talk about perfect timing, I don’t think we could have set it up any better!
Now that incident was happenstance, but when God is involved in the equation – chance, luck, or coincidence does not factor in the least.
I find it amazing the number of prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus – the Christ, the Messiah. It is almost incomprehensible, all the things that coincided to bring about the desired result at just the right time. We must not forget that before the world was even created that God had already set into motion everything that would need to take place to bring about our salvation – before the first sin had even been committed.
By our invitation sin entered the world, and after that, there was nothing more we could do about it. It was our choice to embrace it, but we were utterly helpless (v6 NLT) to stop it. We were enslaved. We were bound with no way to extricate ourselves. But… while we were still helpless [powerless to provide for our salvation], at the right time Christ died [as a substitute] for the ungodly. v6 AMP (emphasis mine)
Not by chance. Luck paid no part. Coincidence? That’s laughable!
Remember our God is Sovereign! He is in charge, so His timing is perfect!
The Apostle Paul declared in Colossians 1:16-17,
For by (or in) Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, [things] visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [that is, by His activity] and for Him. And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.]
We were helpless as newborn babes. We were totally incapable of freeing ourselves from sin’s ruthless grasp, but our Sovereign God was already at work!
Verses 8-11 speak for themselves. Nothing more needs said!
…God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. NLT
Nov 16th, 2022, Wed, 6:43 pm
