The Virus of Sin

There must have been a time when you noticed something wrong with your computer, you shrugged it off. The little cursor arrow began jumping around on your screen when you were trying to move it. But then the problems became more troubling. The computer turned off and restarted again- without permission. Error messages popped up on the screen. Finally the computer programs slowed to the point that you could not get work done. You work on it but keep failing to fix it. Eventually you take the laptop to a technician. He performs diagnostics tests and found over 100 viruses.  The computer was totally infected and could not be cleaned up- it was beyond repair.

When Adam and Eve first sinned in the Garden of Eden, they infected the human race with sin (Romans 5:12). Since then, every person born on earth has been infected with the “sin virus” and we spread it to others. Our nature and our actions are polluted with sin so that, left to ourselves, we have no hope of dealing with our sin problem.

In Romans 3, Paul reveals how deep the problem of sin is. It impacts our morality our minds, and our mouths. It fills our hearts with murderous thoughts and makes us miserable.

If we can’t save ourselves, then God must act. His holy perfect nature demands justice. He cannot allow the guilt and pollution of sin to spread unchecked. He must take action against that which distorts and destroys His creation. He must take action against that which breaks His law- otherwise He would be a negligent judge.

This is where the gospel makes all sense. If we are still imagining we are only slightly bothered by sin and able to save ourselves then we have no reason to trust the gospel-we can just try harder and eventually save ourselves. But if we are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1) and unable to do anything to save ourselves, then no one but God Himself can help us. By subsisting Jesus, the sinless Son of God, for us, God’s justices is satisfied.

The problem of what that awful soul-virus, the guilt and pollution of sin, is also solved because we are united to Christ (Galatians 3:26-28) and given access to all the blessings given to Him by the Father- including His perfect, righteous, holy standing before God. This grave problem of life-sapping sin can only be solved by the death of Christ 

Still Hungry? Isaiah 5:16, Romans 2:2, Ephesians 3:6, Galatians 3: 26-28, Ephesians 3:6

Turn On The Light

And this is the judgment, that the light [Jesus] is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." - John 3:19

In light of all the evidence of God’s existence, where it just seems so convincing to so many of us who do believe, the question rises, “Why don’t people believe?” God gives us the answer in the first chapter of John. "In Him was life…." In other words, Jesus is the source of all life: "...and the life was the light of men." That means enlightenment about God, about life, its ultimate meaning and purpose.

John goes on to add "...and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." One big reason some people don’t believe in God is they just can’t comprehend it. But the major reason that man does not comprehend the existence of God is because of man’s sin. Man will put up an intellectual smoke screen with regards to ideology or concerning the existence of God, but the major reason that man does not believe that God exists is because of sin that causes man to be in spiritual darkness. And because sin is man’s desire to be in control and do things his way, when the light comes on men scurry from the light, because they want to continue to live in the darkness; they still want to live their lives their way.

Jesus is light – the source of ultimate enlightenment about God and life. Living in the dark is foolishness. It’s time to turn the light on – and live.

Still Hungry? John 7:7, Psalm 52:3

Jesus Christ IS Still The Same

"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people." Matthew 4:23 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.  Hebrews 13:8

In many accounts of the gospels, we see that Jesus physically healed people. As a result of the physical healing, the oppressed, depressed and hopeless were supernaturally cured in more ways than just in their bodies.

The book of Matthew is full of stories of Jesus healing the sick. But does He still do that today? As the scripture says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." There are many skeptics in the world who would say Jesus can’t heal today, but there are millions more who can testify that He does.

The Lord is asking us today, "Do you want to be made well?" Whether it be physical healing, spiritual, emotional or financial healing, nothing is too great or too small for our Lord! Perhaps we've just forgotten to ask Him!

I promise you, He is still healing people today, just as he did two thousand years ago.

Still hungry? Psalm 102:27, Hebrews 1:12, Mark 1:12, Luke 4:15

Hope

"This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast..." - Hebrews 6:19

There is an old saying: "When a person loses hope, they begin to hope for death." Life is hard without hope. Life becomes drudgery, misery, meaningless. One reason people lose hope is that they put their hope in the wrong things---beliefs that disappoint, dreams that are unrealistic, but, most of all, in other people who disappoint and disillusion us about life and, sadly, even about God.

But God never disappoints. He gets blamed for a lot of evil that people do, but He is the One we want to put our hope in. He always wants the best for us. His Word says, "I know the plans I have for you, to give you hope and a future." He always loves us. He's always faithful. Even in death He gives us hope. In His Son Jesus, we see He understands the pain of death and He gives us the hope of victory over death as well. When we have hope over death, we can begin to live hopefully every day.

Made In The Image of God

"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...'" - Genesis 1:26

What does it mean to be made in the image of God?

The answer is on page one of the Bible. It says "and God created man in His own image." What does it mean to be in the image of God? It doesn't mean physical appearance, but it does mean in God's likeness.

We can think like God. We can reason. We are creative.

We are to rule over creation. We need to care for it, protect it, and use it in a way that is pleasing to God.

We are spiritual beings. Unlike the animals, we can worship God. God desires a personal relationship with us.

We are moral beings. Man deals with right and wrong. The best way for us to do this is to obey God's Word in faith.

If we submit to God, we reflect His nature. But when we don't, we look more like beasts. Understanding this, does your life reflect the image of God or are you more like an animal? 

Still Hungry: Acts 17:28-29, Genesis 9:2, psalm 8:6-, 1 Corinthians 11:7, James 3:9