Grace Abounds

 "Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more." Romans 5:20

I found myself grieving this morning over the state of the world, this nation, and our culture. Both the culture that surrounds the church and the culture of the church itself. I took my grief and heaviness of heart to Him, and as I prayed, He whispered the promise of Romans 5:20 into my spirit. In this fallen world, sin will abound, darkness will abound, depravity and lawlessness will abound, but.....His grace, His wondrous grace, will abound more.

This is the hope of the church, the people of God. This is not a time for us to wring our hands in despair. Neither is it a time for us to look to political or cultural leaders for hope and answers. It is a time, past time, for His people to fall on their knees and cry out to the God of all things. Cry out that He would come upon His creation and pour out His Spirit and His grace upon what has become a dry and thirsty land. It is time, past time, for the church to live out 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If My people, who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land." 

The need for healing in this land and all lands is desperate. Hatred, violence, raging anger are the order of this day. We, the church, must own our responsibility in this. Darkness cannot increase where His Light is being shown forth. We have failed to be the Light and Salt He commands us to be. We've been absorbed in ourselves and our own comfort and personal agendas. And the darkness and sin which fuels that darkness has grown.....yet hope abounds. It abounds because His grace abounds....more.

I think it was A.W. Tozer who said in effect that all the sin and darkness of all the ages put together is powerless against the Light and Life of Almighty God. This was proven in Jesus Christ's death on a cross and in His resurrection. Sin was conquered. Death was conquered. They are still conquered, and it is time, past time, for His church to live out this truth.

There's an old hymn that contains a lyric that goes something like, "Let the church be the church." May we cease being the church that we've been, which in too many ways is but a shallow shadow of what we must be, and once again be, THE CHURCH! Where sin abounds, grace abounds more. Let us be the vessels of His grace. Let us be the means of His Light. The darkness is powerless against His Light. It always has been and always will be. The devil knows and fears this. Let us show him and his works that we know it too.

Blessings,
Pastor O