Beloved in the Lord, grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus, our Lord (1 Tim. 1:2 ESV). It’s still the season of Epiphany and we continue to see our Lord Jesus shine brighter and brighter as our Savior from sin, death, and the devil. [Illustration] If you were stuck in the snow, you would need someone to save you from being stuck. If you were experiencing chest pains while shoveling the snow, you would need someone who could save you from a heart attack—and thank God we have EMT’s to do just that! If you were in debt and couldn’t pay your bills, you would need a debt relief savior—someone who could pay the bills. Not all need debt relief, not all need an EMT, and not all are stuck in the snow, but everyone has been stained by sin.
You know how sin came into the world by the disobedience of Adam (Gen. 3). But if you ever had hopes that Adam and Eve sinned but their kids would be okay, check out who the first child was who was born to Eve. She and Adam had sinned by believing the ancient serpent (Rev. 12:9) instead of listening to God’s command about the tree of the knowledge good and evil. They ate the forbidden fruit and were transformed from holy innocence to sinful indecency—they knew that they were naked and sewed fig-leaf loincloths to cover themselves (Gen. 3:7). There’s always a check on whether we know we have original sin or not: if we know we’re naked, we definitely are infected with original sin. But what about Adam and Eve’s firstborn child? Did he know he was naked? Their firstborn was a son name Cain, and the Bible doesn’t tell us whether he knew he was naked or not, but you probably do know something else about Cain: he murdered his younger brother Abel (Gen. 4:8). Cain was horribly infected with sin.
But did you know that Eve was already calling for a Savior? (Gen. 4:1)
Now sometimes there’s a difference. Inclusiveness is a politically charged word these days and it is being used in ways that God never mentions in His Word
There’s no division between people in the Bible other than idolatry and the worship of the one true God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:7 ESV). Amen.
[1] But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
[2] The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone. (ESV)
In church … What we do together with our minds is to predominate in church over personal spiritual activities which are personally more uplifting.
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