Romans 3:23 (NLT)
For all have sinned, all fall short of
God’s glorious standard
Some
non-believers consider themselves “good people” and, as such, they believe that
they are acceptable to God. These folks
are not aware of this verse (or simply don’t believe it). The Bible is clear; every single person who
ever has lived has sinned. Even babies
have sinned, not because of certain acts, but because of the sin nature of all
humans. The sin nature of humans is
taught in Romans 5:12 and Romans 8:6-8.
Furthermore, Romans 6:23 states that sin leads to death (spiritual
although could be physical). The sinful
nature of mankind is not something to joke about.
What is “sin
nature”? We can see sin nature evolve
with our children from birth. Has anyone
ever had a child who never lied? Has
anyone ever seen a child who was not selfish?
These are just two examples of our sin nature. Sin is described in the Bible as transgression
of the law of God (I John 3:4) and rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 9:7; Joshua 1:18).
What is God’s
glorious standard? The word “glory”
means a display of God’s divine attributes and perfections. God’s glorious standard is perfection. Is any human being perfect? Would any human really believe that he/she is
perfect? Delusional beings, perhaps, but
no rational person would think of himself as perfect, yet that is the standard
of God. Jesus said in Matthew 5:48 that
“you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”. On your own, you cannot be perfect, but
through Christ, you can and are made perfect in the eyes of God!
Christmas reveals
the heart of God. God was willing to
take the form of a man to die a substitutionary death on the cross so that
sinful man could be reconciled with a glorious God. Without Christmas we all would never make the
goal, never have hope, never make it to heaven, never see the glory of God.
You’ve heard this
before, but let’s say it again……..what would this world be like without
Jesus? What if Jesus had never
come? Think of what your life would be
like without Jesus? Give thanks that all
these questions are rhetorical.
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