Romans 3:1-31
Monday, 05 August 2024
“Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”- Romans 3:24[NLT]
In Genesis we see the Creator God who created everything and said; ‘It is good!’ But soon we see the tragic fall of man. God created man in His own image so that man could glorify God eternally through loving, adoring and worshipping Him-the Giver of life. The very existence of man was dependent on God. Man took a turn away from God by disobeying God and in turn obeying Satan. This led to his fall into sin and he was driven away from the very presence of God. (Genesis chapters 1-3)—separated from God. From then on sin entered the world and came to all humankind.
Romans 3:23 [NLT] says “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Hence there existed only one way of return to God, that is by appeasing for the sin he had done. Man tried all he could through his own religious systems to reach back to God, but all these failed. Where Man failed, God came to the rescue of man. This is the story of Redemption we see through the pages of the Bible. As we read in Mark 10:27: "...With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." Yes! God did it through His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ.
The book of Romans describes in detail the fall, the consequence of the fall- that is death and finally the victory won through the sacrificial death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Christ’s death on the cross was nothing but the heavy ransom paid by God on behalf of us to fulfill the righteous requirements, in order to bring us back to God. In turn He crushed the head of Satan who orchestrated the fall, so that we can be eternally with God, worshipping and glorifying Him without fear.
Man needs to only place his faith in what Christ has done on his behalf to be made right with God. “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.” (Romans 3:22 NLT) Jesus’ shed blood has paid the penalty of our sin and God counts us righteous before Him through Christ!
This brings us to the second thought, that is, having purchased by God through the cross, we are no more our own, but God's. 2 Corinthians 5:15 [NLT] says: “He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.” So we need to glorify Him through our lives by absolute obedience to His will. That is, there are no two wills but only one will- the will of God. The story of redemption described in the Bible will have its beautiful end only when the ransomed, redeemed children of God lead a consecrated life for His glory alone. Amen.
Prayer: Our Father in heaven, today I understand that my life is a redeemed one, for which You have paid heavily and fully. My proper response to this is nothing but total surrender. Lord Jesus I surrender my life to you to do Your will alone. In Jesus name. Amen.
Listen: 'Redeemed'
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