The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"The Gift and the Change"
"That was the true light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9).
As we considered in yesterday's message, the Apostle Paul declared of every human being, "in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). Thus, all know deeply within that God exists, the God revealed in Scripture, by His creation, and in the lives of those who know Him.
"He sendeth forth His commandment upon earth: His word runneth very swiftly" (Psalm 147:15).
"The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made, even His eternal power and godhead" (Romans 1:20).
"Ye shine as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:15).
This truth means that the issue of unbelief is never primarily intellectual, but rather spiritual and moral, as stated plainly by the Lord Jesus Christ:
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19).
To believe the Gospel of the Lord Jesus does not involve the utterly impossible task of cleaning up or changing our own heart and life. Only God can do that. However, every human being who hears the Gospel knows that if they trust Christ, change will come. The Holy Spirit bears clear witness to this, that "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new" (II Corinthians 5:17). Indeed, God's truth reveals the need for radical change of heart and life, and then offers it as a freely given bestowal of grace in the Lord Jesus. Those who remain in unbelief refuse to believe because the Spirit of God and the Gospel of God plainly state that with the gift comes the change. "Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40).
We do well to pray for unbelievers that they will realize in known and difficult experience that "the way of transgressors is hard" (Proverbs 13:15). Thereby, the Lord works to make the required grace and change in Christ a more appealing possibility. As the saying goes, "no happy person ever believed in the Lord Jesus." Yes, God must make hard the way of transgressors in order to awaken them to the deadly nature of the sin they love. Thereby, the light that shines upon them in every moment of their existence can become the redeeming light that shines within them as life forevermore.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world."
(Psalm 19:1-4)
Weekly Memory Verse
Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father.
(Galatians 4:6)
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