Genesis 3:15

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Have you ever heard of the protoevangelium? A big word, right? What does it mean? Well, it means the first gospel. Maybe wonder, well, what’s that? Well, that phrase or that word really refers to the verse recorded in Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, following the fall into sin. Where God says this as he’s addressing Satan, but in Adam and Eve’s hearing he says,

I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel. (Genesis 3:15)

Now skeptics have said, well, basically all God is doing is he’s foretelling, in the immortal words of Indiana Jones, “Snakes? I hate snakes.” He’s foretelling that human beings are forever going to hate snakes because of the fallen to sin. Doesn’t seem very profound, especially when we know that Adam and Eve broke the world by their sin and brought upon themselves death and destruction. Really? That’s all God’s saying now you’re going to hate snakes? No, there has to be something more.

So what does that passage mean? I will put enmity between you and the woman. God is talking about hatred and hostility between Satan and Eve. But then, as he goes on to talk about those that are Satan’s seed, or his offspring and Eve’s offspring, those that are children of darkness, as Satan is of darkness, and those that are children of light as Eve, trusting in God as their Savior, that there’s going to be conflict, there’s going to be hostility, animosity between these two. But God goes on. And what does he say? He talks about not just a collection of seeds, but he talks about a singular seed of the woman who will crush Satan’s head and Satan will crush his heel.

What’s that talking about? Now, if you’ve ever walked in the woods, maybe you can imagine yourself doing so and all of a sudden being bit by a snake in the ankle. And let’s say you’ve discovered the poisonous snake. Are you going to die? Well, you very well could if you do nothing about it, but you probably have some options. Maybe you can try to suck out the poison. Maybe you can try to find an antidote, quick. And if need be, you could cut off your leg, I guess if you had to.

But imagine if you’re walking in the woods in a tree branch, a tree limb, fell on your head and crushed it. I mean, you’re done. There is no coming back from that, right?

Well, God is foretelling here is he’s talking about something so great in which a singular seed of the woman, and that’s an interesting way to refer to this woman’s progeny, her seed, her singular seed is going to crush Satan’s head. He’s going to crush his power once and for all. We would say this really refers to Jesus’ death on the cross. You see, when Jesus died on the cross, it was as if Satan had crushed or had struck his heel. It seemed as if he had delivered a death blow to Jesus. But Jesus willingly went to the cross because he knew what actually was taking place. He knew by offering his innocent life on the cross for sinners like you and me, offering his life the life of God as a sacrifice, he could do away with Satan’s power once and for all.

You see, the only thing that Satan really can hold over our head is our sin. And Satan says, you deserve wrath. You deserve judgment for the things that you have done. What did Christ do? He said, I will pay. He suffered your hell, your punishment for your sin on the cross. To take away Satan’s power once and for all. And if that wasn’t enough, he [Jesus] didn’t stay dead. He also rose again to life from the dead, showing his power even over death itself.

You know, this protoevangelium, the first preaching of the gospel in the Bible, really sets the stage for the entire book. That, in fact, is what the Bible is all about. It’s a story about God carrying out his plan of salvation, in which he sends the seed of the woman who comes to crush the serpent’s power and head once and for all. We see it ultimately fulfilled in the one referred to as the Messiah in the Old Testament, fulfilled in the New Testament, in the person of Jesus Christ, as we see clearly, that’s who the Messiah is. He is the anointed One, Christ who has come to crush Satan’s power once and for all, so we can have hope of life forever. Amen.

John 13:34, John 3:16

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Little over a year ago, following the death of my daughter, as my wife and I were walking around town, as we liked to do, we came across these stickers here and there that said, it’s going to be okay. And whenever my wife saw one of those stickers, she just loved it because we had been going through so much and feeling so down. It was so nice to have that thought in our mind that things were going to work out. Things were going to be okay.

Well, more recently as we were walking, we saw again one of those stickers and my wife commented, I wonder if anyone has ever created a sticker that says Jesus loves you. It got us thinking which one of those slogans is really more comforting? It’s going to be okay or Jesus loves you.

And I think the second one is really more substantial, isn’t it? You know, the first one really is kind of saying this too shall pass, right? But the second one really gives us the reason for hope. Jesus loves you. We know that Jesus loves us. He said basically that in John chapter 13 when he says,

I have loved you… (John 13:34)

And we know, of course, that familiar passage from John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall… …have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Yes God showed his love for us. He didn’t just say, I love you, but he showed it in His Son that he sent to suffer and die for our sins. Jesus ultimately went to the cross to pay for the price of our brokenness and the brokenness of our world that leads to things like disease and destruction and death. Jesus went to satisfy God’s wrath against us for our sins, so that we know because of him we are right with God. And there is hope for the future, especially because Jesus didn’t just die. Jesus also came back again to life from the dead, showing his power to even be able to defeat death.

Talk about an amazing hope, especially for those that are mourning. For those that have experienced a devastating loss in their life. A loved one that has died. To know that Christ has not only paid the price of sin, Christ has defeated death. And so there is hope for you and for them, for all who trust in their Savior, Jesus Christ. That it doesn’t end in death, but in life because of him.

So it’s going to be okay. It’s a nice slogan to think about. I think a better one is Jesus loves you. But a good reminder for us, especially when we’re facing hard things. Jesus loves you, and he’s proved it. Amen.

Psalm 51:10

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This month marks eight years of Peace Devotions. As we remember this big anniversary, it’s good for us to thank God for giving us this opportunity, for us to share His Word with so many over these years, to also thank our pastors who dedicated so much time to writing their devotions, and be willing to sit in the hot seat as well. And of course, thank our producer, Phil Wels. So we certainly thank all of those people for eight wonderful years. It’s kind of amazing to think that this coming year, we are approaching our 1,000th episode that we plan to film this year.

That kind of reminds me of how all of this began eight years ago. I remember I got a phone call one day from my good friend Matt Wiechmann, and he told me, Matt, I want you to write a devotion 2 or 3 minutes long, and I want you to meet me in this park at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning. I’ll tell you what we’re going to do then. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but that day we filmed our very first Peace Devotion, and that got this whole thing started.

It’s kind of interesting looking back on that day and on that devotion as well, that devotion actually never aired. And so thinking about coming close to our thousandth recording of Peace Devotions and so forth, I thought maybe it would be nice to share with you the basic context of that very first devotion that we filmed.

Ramone was the four year old brother of a student that attended the school that my church supported when I served down in Florida. His mother brought him to the hospital one day for an outpatient procedure, standard procedure, and while he was there, they gave him an IV. But the nurse made a mistake. The nurse forgot to clear the line of air, and when she put the IV in, the oxygen, went straight to his heart and damaged it. Destroyed it completely. Thankfully, the doctors were able to save his life, but Ramone had to remain in the hospital until a new heart could be found. It was a long six months, but eventually it was and Ramone was able to return home healthy, safe and sound.

God’s Word for us today is recorded in Psalm 51, verse ten, where King David says this

Create in me a pure heart, O God.
Renew an unwavering spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)

David in that verse is really asking that God give him a new heart, or create in him a a pure heart, as he says. And why does he ask for this? Well, we know the context. The reason David says this is because he’s thinking about his sin that he’s committed with Bathsheba. Now he’s murdered her husband as well and told so many lies and how all of this was brought to the forefront through God’s prophet who had confronted him. And now David was overwhelmed with the guilt. And so he asked God to wash away his sins. He asked God that he would create in him a pure heart. But how could that happen?

You know, when you think back to little Ramone, what did it take for him to get a new heart? It wasn’t that the doctor had one in the back room that he could easily go and get. It wasn’t that they could grow one on the back of a mouse or something like that. Someone had to die. And someone did die. A child died and the heart was donated so that Ramone could live. It’s a reminder for us as well, when it comes to our own hearts, filled with so much sin that in order for our own hearts to be purified, to be made right with God, someone had to die.

You see, our sin was no small price. Not just sins like adultery and murder, but sins like stealing and lying, gossip and so many others. All of those sins deserve God’s wrath and punishment. And the only way for our hearts to be made right with God is for someone to die. And someone did die. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ to die in the cross for your sins and mine, so that our hearts, filled with so much sin, could be purified. So that they could be made right with God.

What a good reminder that is for us, especially in our own lives, to know that God has given us new hearts. First of all, as he has brought us to faith in His Son Jesus Christ. But even now, as Christians, as we sometimes can feel the weight and guilt of our sin to return again to God as King David did so beautifully in our Psalm, to ask God that he wash away our sins, and that he create in us a pure heart as well, and to know that he will through His Son Jesus Christ, and what he has done for us. Amen.

Ruth 1:16-17, 2 Corinthians 5:15

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You only live once. So the world tells us. So, get as much happiness out of this life as you possibly can. That seems to be the mentality of our world today. That if you’re not happy in your job, quit. If you’re not happy with your friends, well, find some new ones. If you’re not happy in your family life, in your marriage, get a divorce, because happiness is key. Because you only live once.

There’s a woman in the Bible by the name of Ruth that seems to be living in direct contrast to that concept of YOLO or You Only Live Once. Ruth is this woman who has lost her husband at a young age, and she yet cares for her mother-in-law, who has not only lost her husband, but also her two sons as well. Ruth’s husband being one of them. Yet, even though Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi, gives her the right to go back home to her family to maybe find a new spouse, a new husband to marry and be happy and to have kids. Yet Ruth clings to her mother-in-law, Naomi.

It’s interesting to think about what she does that she’s willing to leave her family and her homeland. She’s willing to take on a life of poverty and difficulty. She’s willing to live with this woman, Naomi, who doesn’t want people to call her Naomi, a name that means pleasant, but instead wants people to call her bitter because the Lord has made her life bitter. She desires to do all of that. It seems to be the exact opposite of the concept of YOLO. You only live once. Live your life for your own happiness.

Why would she do this? Well, in Ruth chapter one we hear this about her. Ruth says this to her mother-in-law, Naomi.

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to abandon you or to turn back from following you. Because wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you make your home, I will make my home. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely and double it if anything but death separates me from you.” (Ruth 1:16-17 EHV)

We hear why. We hear why she would give up on her own happiness to serve her mother-in-law, Naomi. It’s because of a promise she made to God. To the Lord. She had come to know the Lord as the true God, but not only as the true God, but as her own personal Savior. The one who is sending the Messiah into the world, the one who would come to redeem her and make satisfaction for her sins. To give her life forever in his name.

You see, Ruth wasn’t living for the here and now. She wasn’t living for life here on earth and for her happiness here. But she was living for the one who gives her eternal life forever because of the Messiah, her Savior, the one that God was sending into the world. Saint Paul writes in the New Testament concerning this one the Messiah.

And he died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves but for him, who died in their place and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:15 EHV)

You see, God encourages us instead of having that attitude of living for our happiness or YOLO, you only live once. Maybe instead YLT you live twice, right? We live here and now, but we also will have life forever in God’s name, in eternity, because of the one who has purchased our redemption, who has paid for our sin and given us the certainty of everlasting life.

So let us not live our lives here and now for our own selves, for our own happiness, but instead to live for the one who has given his life for us, to guarantee us that we will live twice. We will live forever, eternally in heaven. (WWLTWWLFEIH) Amen.

John 3:17-18

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How do you view God? As a loving deity who cares about you? Or as an egomaniac who demands believe in me or else I’m sending you to hell?

I think there are a lot of people in our world today that view God in that latter way. They view God as demanding that we believe in him or else. And many people would say, well, that’s really unfair. After all, God doesn’t present himself to us directly, right? He doesn’t speak to us audibly in our ears, at least not usually. He doesn’t show his person to us that we can look upon him or talk to him. And so how can God make such demands?

Yes, God’s existence maybe isn’t so overt, and maybe it is found in the shadows, but there is clear evidence of God’s existence. In fact, it is so clear that all peoples and cultures that have existed since the beginning of human history have believed in a god. And the reason is, is because they observe the world around. They see the design in creation and in themselves, and they are led to that logical conclusion that if there is a design, there must be a designer.

Not only this, we think about all of the peoples and cultures around the world, even today, that we all have a standard of law of right and wrong. And while there may be are nuanced differences between those codes of law, in general, many of them are the same. Do not murder, do not steal, do not commit adultery. And why is there the standard of law? It’s because it’s a universal law that is written on our hearts. Yet there are so many people in our world today that don’t go to that logical conclusion that if there is a universal standard of right and wrong, there must be a standard giver. God himself.

And yet God’s approach to us isn’t one to demand believe in me or else, but instead his approach to us is one of love. He sees our fallen condition. He sees what we deserve for the things that we have done wrong: punishment and justice. And yet he in love, wants us to be spared from all of that. Consider what Jesus Himself said in John chapter three.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. The one who believes in him is not condemned, but the one who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. (John 3:17-18 EHV)

You see, God has revealed himself to us in his body. The body of Jesus Christ in literal flesh and bones. And God has shown that Jesus Christ is God as he claimed to be, not just by his words, but also by his actions, by his miracles, not the least of which, of course, was his miracle of rising to life again from the dead on Easter Sunday. The fact that the tomb is empty proves that Jesus himself is God, and therefore is able to save, just as he has said. God is not an egomaniac who needs us to feel good about himself. Rather, he is a God of love who cares for you.

So God’s desire for you isn’t believe in me or else, but instead believe in my Savior. Believe in Jesus, the one that I have sent to rescue you from the judgment you deserve. From the guilt that you know in your own heart of the things that you have done wrong. Jesus has come to make satisfaction for that sin, and to give you life, and to give you hope, to give you a future. Believe in him and you will not be condemned. Amen.

1 Corinthians 7:1-2

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Are you single? How do you view your singleness as a Christian? Do you view it as a unique station in life that God has placed you in? Or do you view it as a burden to bear or a problem to solve? Saint Paul in First Corinthians chapter seven tells us that being single is good. You might wonder how so? Well, there’s many people in our world that say being single is good because they say it means sexual freedom. It means that they can sleep around with whoever they want, whenever they want.

That is the exact opposite of what Saint Paul means when he tells us that being single is good. In fact, first Corinthians chapter seven, verse one tells us

Now concerning the things you wrote: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. But because of sexual sins, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. (1 Corinthians 7:1-2 EHV)

God plainly tells us, while being single is good, if that sexual desire is so strong that it’s going to lead us to sin, it’s better for us to marry. Yet there are individuals that God has blessed with a special gift. They’re not so tempted to regularly fall into sexual sin. Individuals that are able to live a single life without falling into those sins that are so prevalent in society. And God encourages them in His Word in First Corinthians chapter seven especially, he wants them to view themselves as given a unique opportunity. And how so? Well, Saint Paul points out that married people have extra obligations that single people don’t.

Married people have obligations to a spouse, obligations to their children. Where single people don’t have such obligations, and therefore they have more time and more energy to dedicate to serving the Lord. If you are single, have you ever thought of it that way? That God is giving you an opportunity to serve him in your singleness and to really think, what are those things that I could do that maybe I couldn’t do if I was married. What are those ways that I can serve the Lord or serve his church?

Now, I know there are a lot of people, some that are happy being single and able to live out their lives as single people without giving much thought for marriage. But there are other people that really wish they were married, and maybe even resent God, that he has not yet given them a spouse to be married to. What about all of those people? Well, God would have you either way, whether you desire to be married or not, to view your singleness as a good thing and desire to live your life for him.

And how can you do that? Or why would you do that? Well, it’s good for us to think about Jesus. Jesus lived a single life for you, didn’t he? He used his singlehood or singleness to live a perfect and holy life, dedicated not to himself, but to others, to service of others, especially you and me, to even give that single life on a cross for all of our sins, whether they be sexual sins or resentment against God for the circumstances that he has placed us in. All of them were born upon his own shoulders as he was desiring to serve you with his entire life. And he encourages you now to live for him, to live your life, whether married or single, dedicated to the one who gave his life for you, knowing what he has accomplished through it eternal life.

And I want you to think about that eternal life. What does the Bible tell us that eternal life is going to be like? It’s going to be a single life, isn’t it? The Bible tells us that there is no marriage in heaven, but we are going to live our lives in heaven perfectly as single people, forever serving the Lord. May God help us to do exactly that even now, to live our lives for Christ, who has given his single life for us. Amen.

Romans 8:1

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As we look around us, as we watch the news, as we go online, watch TV and so forth, we see that our world is pretty messed up, isn’t it?

There’s so much sorrow, suffering, pain, and death. Part of it is the fault of human beings. We think of selfish human beings who act in harm towards their neighbor, sometimes trying to cheat them out of what rightfully is theirs. Sometimes it’s by harming their bodies, sometimes it’s even by killing them as well. We know that suffering and sorrow and pain doesn’t just come from other people, but it’s just part of our world as well as we think about our own bodies can be afflicted with disease like heart disease or cancer or other things that can cause us suffering and pain and even death too. And then we think about all of the terrible natural disasters, things like wildfires and hurricanes and tornadoes and how much destruction that causes to people’s property and people’s lives and livelihood. And we look at our world and we say, it’s so messed up. What in the world is going on?

It’s made many people to wonder if there in fact really is a God. Because they say if there is a God, he must be all powerful. And if he is also a God of love, well, where is he? Why is he allowing all of the sorrow, suffering and pain and death to go on in the world as we see it today? And some then conclude, well, God can’t possibly exist because there is so much suffering, sorrow, pain and death. It’s good for us to note, though, that the world that we see before our eyes today isn’t the world the way in which God originally made it. God didn’t create a world that was filled with sorrow, suffering, pain, or death, or any of those things. God, in fact, created a perfect world in which he placed the first human beings, Adam and Eve. And he gave Adam and Eve free will, free will to either choose to obey God or free will to disobey God.

We know what the Bible says about them, what they use their free will for. Ultimately, as Eve was tempted by the serpent, tempted by Satan, she took from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She took it and she ate it. She gave it to her husband as well, Adam, and he ate it. And both of them sinned. And as a result, there came sorrow, suffering, pain, and death, not just to their own bodies, but upon the entire world. And so the world we see today isn’t the world the way in which God intended it or created it. But it’s a world that is broken by sin.

We might ask then, well, why doesn’t God fix it? Why doesn’t God just get rid of all of that sin? If he was to do that, what would be left? No, who would be left? Would you be left if God got rid of all of the sin in the world? Oh, we know our own sin, and we know our own corruption, and how that often causes sorrow, suffering, pain, and death in our own lives, too. And so we see the problem lies within. The reason that God has allowed this broken world to continue is because he wants sinners to come and to know their Savior, Jesus Christ, that they might be rescued from the condemnation that their sins deserved. And so he has allowed this broken world to go on for a time, that the good news of salvation: that Jesus Christ has come as your Savior from sin, might be spread to more and more, that they might be spared the judgment and have eternal life.

But God has told us in His Word that he is coming to rid the world of sin one day. That day is sometimes referred to as Judgment day. As he will judge all sin. It’s certainly a scary day for each and every one of us who knows our sin, but he wants us to especially know we have nothing to fear on that day. As he tells us in Romans chapter eight, verse one,

So then, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

We are safe in Christ our Savior. We can be assured that he is coming soon to make all things new, and to bring us to a place that is free from sorrow, suffering, pain, and death forever because of Christ and what he has done for us. Amen.

Genesis 1:27, Colossians 3:10, Ephesians 4:24

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In Genesis chapter one, God says this about Adam and Eve.

God created the man in his own image. In the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

That Bible passage tells us that we are created in the image of God. All human beings are created in the image of God, both male and female. What does that mean? I think many times we wonder, does that mean that we have eyes like God’s eyes or nose like God has a nose or fingers and toes like God has? Well, it’s good for us to keep in mind that God, in his essence, is spirit is what the Bible tells us. Obviously, in the person of Jesus Christ, he takes on human flesh, doesn’t he? But in his essence, God is spirit. So he doesn’t have those things like the way that we have. So what does it mean that human beings are created in the image of God?

Well, a very helpful passage for us to consider is Colossians chapter three, verse ten, and it says this.

Put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in knowledge, according to the image of its Creator. (Colossians 3:10)

That passage talks about the new self, sometimes referred to as the new man. Or we talk about as we come to faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ, we are a new person, right? We are born again as well. And it talks about that new self as a new self that is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. So it talks about the image of God in connection with this new self, that it’s being renewed in knowledge. And so I think that gives us a lot of insight into what it means in the Bible when it talks about Adam and Eve being created in the image of God, that they had perfect knowledge of God and of his will, they had a perfect relationship with him as well.

And there’s another passage that goes along with it from Ephesians chapter four that says this

Put on the new self, which has been created to be like God in righteousness and true holiness. (Ephesians 4:24)

Again, it refers to that new man or new self as it mentions there, but it says, what’s the connection? Well, it’s been created to be like God in righteousness and holiness. And so that’s another aspect of the image of God that we are righteous and holy as well too. So both those things are true knowledge of God, a perfect relationship with God, but then also that holiness and righteousness, all of that is part of what it means that human beings were created with the image or in the image of God.

So why aren’t we that way today? You know, why aren’t we righteous and holy? And why do we sin? And why is our relationship with God broken? Well, it’s because of sin, isn’t it? As Adam and Eve fell into sin, they lost the perfect image of God. Maybe another way is to think about it as being clouded or tainted by sin. And so there isn’t that perfect knowledge of God. There isn’t that perfect relationship with God. We were separated or divorced from him by our sin, but also we ourselves aren’t perfect. We are corrupt because of sin.

And yet, the good news for us is to know that by faith in God’s Son, Jesus Christ, through trusting in him, that relationship and that image is restored, that God has given us a new self. We are a new creation, new people in Christ, and that in him God is restoring the image of God in us. He is giving us that knowledge of him. He is sanctifying us by His Holy Spirit, making us holy. And one day we will be perfectly holy as we see God face to face in life eternal, not because of us and the things that we have done, but only because of Christ and what he has done for us, and how he has given us new birth and made us a new creation, giving us God’s image in full, a perfect image once again in glory. Amen.

Ecclesiastes 12:7

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What are human beings? Now that maybe seems like a very strange question. After all, anybody asking that question should know, right? After all, don’t only human beings ask the question, what are human beings? We should be able to tell each other what we are from our own experience. Yet I think it’s a very important question for us to ask, because people have different opinions, different ideas on this topic of what a human being is.

There are the materialists, people that say that we’re basically just a big clump of cells with these electro chemical pulses that happen in our body that cause us to move, that causes us to think and cause us to have sensations and feelings and that sort of thing. But then what happens when you die? Well, such people would say that once you cease to live any longer, once those electro chemicals stop, well, then you’re dead. And that’s it. No more. There’s no more you. Right?

Then there’s kind of another train of thought that believes that there is both the material part of a human being, but also an immaterial part, sometimes referred to as a spirit or soul. And that’s really what the Bible tells us concerning human beings, that we are both body and soul. I think of one place in Scripture that we see this is recorded in Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verse seven, as it speaks concerning one who has died. As it talks about the body.

The dust goes back into the ground—just as it was before, and the spirit goes back to God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

The passage talks about that when a Christian dies, their body is buried in the ground. It returns to the dust. And we hear in Genesis chapter one that our bodies, human being, bodies, were made from dust, but the soul or the spirit returns to God who gave it. It says that there’s part of us that remains even beyond death. And isn’t that good news to hear? To know that there is a part of us that remains even after we die. You know, think about how tragic it is to think in those other terms of the materialistic way of thinking that when you’re dead, you’re dead, and that’s it. That means that you never again can see a loved one who has died. That’s it. They’re gone forever.

But the Bible tells us very differently. The Bible tells us that isn’t the end. The Bible tells us, furthermore, that those that die trusting in their Savior, Jesus Christ, their soul, doesn’t just go to be with God for a time. But on the last day, we’ll be reunited with the body. They will be a whole human being once again, both body and soul. To live with God in a perfect place called heaven. And we can see them there again, too, trusting in that same Savior, Jesus Christ and what he has done for us. We can know that we will not end up in hell forever because of our sins, but rather because of what Christ has done for us. We will live with him, both body and soul, with all other believers in Christ for all eternity.

So that’s some good news for us, especially as we consider what human beings are. Let us not just understand human beings are both body and soul, but more importantly, let us trust the Savior that gives us eternal life, both body and soul, forever in heaven. Amen.

Jude 4, Romans 5:6,8

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You’ve heard of driver’s licenses or pilot’s license or even liquor licenses. There’s a lot of license that we give out in our world, in our country. But have you ever heard about a license to sin? Maybe wonder what in the world is that? Well, Saint Jude talks about a license to sin in the fourth verse of his book, where he says this. He talks about the ungodly. He talks about people who turn the grace of our God into a license to sin.

They are ungodly people who turn the grace of our God into a license for sin… (Jude 4)

You might wonder, what is he talking about concerning this license to sin? Maybe first and foremost, it’s good for us to understand who he’s talking about. Who are these ungodly people? Well, he’s talking about Christians, or at least people who call themselves Christians. They call themselves Christians, they claim that they know the grace of God, they know his undeserved love for them, how he has come into the world to forgive them all of their sins. And yet they use that as an excuse to sin. They say, because God has forgiven all of my sin, it doesn’t matter how I live, I can do whatever I want. Who cares? God will just forgive me anyway.

It’s good to note, though, the term that he uses for them, the term that he uses is “ungodly.” He’s talking about people who are acting not as Christians, but as unbelievers. Have you ever had such an attitude when it comes to God’s grace? Maybe thinking that you have a license to sin? As you consider your own life, is there something that you are doing right now that maybe a pastor has told you this is wrong? Or a parent, or a friend or maybe your own conscience? Or maybe it’s a combination of all those that you’ve been told very clearly, this is wrong. And you know, deep down that it is, but you just keep on doing it. You maybe have told yourself, well, what’s the big deal? I’ll just ask forgiveness later anyway. Or maybe you’ve thought everyone else is doing it, so why can’t I also do this same thing?

God is revealing to you and to all of us in His Word today that ultimately having that attitude of it doesn’t matter if I sin, that that is an attitude of an ungodly person. It isn’t right. And really, it’s a faith destroying attitude because it can lead us to ultimately think that the thing that we are doing wrong really isn’t that wrong. So I’ll just keep on doing it. And I don’t really need a savior because it isn’t really wrong. It’s very harmful to us.

That should be a wake up call. That should be something striking for us to consider. Maybe if your conscience has been pricked, though, as you consider that thing in your own life, it’s good for us to also consider the words of the Apostle Paul from Romans chapter five, when he says this,

For at the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)

Christ died for the ungodly. Christ died for people who thought they had a license to sin. People who took for granted the grace of God and said, I’ll sin now and I’ll ask forgiveness later. Christ died for those people. And it goes on to say,

But God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

That’s amazing, isn’t it? To know that that God even forgives those types of sins, even though we knew it was wrong and we did it anyway, even though we were planning to repent later, even though that was a terrible attitude and terrible actions that we took. Christ died even for those sins. Let’s rejoice in that message and let us not want to ultimately live in our sin and think that we have a license to sin, but instead live for Christ, who has paid for that sin and taking care of it once and for all on the cross. Amen.

John 8:10-11

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I wonder if there’s a misunderstanding when it comes to God’s grace. A lot of people believe that God’s grace means that he has shown undeserved love for all people, and therefore he accepts them in their sin. Grace is not acceptance, but forgiveness. Grace is not the acceptance of sin, but the forgiveness of sin. Maybe one way to think about it is maybe in this way, imagine someone did something horrific to someone else. There was physical abuse involved in a relationship, and the abuser comes to the one that they’ve hurt and they apologize. They repent of their sin, and that person decides that they are going to forgive them. By showing grace and forgiving them. They are not condoning what they did. They’re not saying that it was okay to abuse them. Rather, they are saying they are not going to hold that debt over their heads anymore.

Certainly they were wronged. Certainly they were hurt, but they have forgiven the debt so that that relationship can be restored. A good story that describes this for us to understand grace not being acceptance of sin, but forgiveness of sin, is the story found in John eight of the woman in adultery. These religious leaders, they bring this woman who has apparently been caught in the act of adultery and lay her at Jesus feet, and they say, Jesus, according to the law of Moses, this woman deserves to die for her sin of adultery. And obviously, they’re trying to trap Jesus, trying to get him to do something so that then they can accuse him later on. But here’s how Jesus responds. He says to them that the one who is without sin should throw the first stone. And we hear that beginning with the oldest, they drop their stones and they all walk away. Jesus, who’s looking down at the dirt and writing something in the dirt, he says then to the woman.

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, Lord,” she answered.
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” (John 8:10-11)

We consider Jesus’ words and actions for this woman. That these men wanted to condemn that woman. They wanted to give her judgment for the sin that she had committed. But Jesus wants to show her grace, doesn’t he? He wants to show her undeserved love, the undeserved love of God, and not giving her what she deserves, but instead allowing her to go free, knowing that he himself has paid the price and would ultimately pay the price for her sin on the cross. But note what he does, he doesn’t accept her sin. He doesn’t say, well, keep on committing adultery, great! No! He encourages her to not sin any longer. He encourages her now to live a life free from sin.

You know, it gets us thinking then, when it comes to grace and the grace of God, what that means for us and what it means for the way in which we forgive others too. You know that. That God has shown us undeserved love, right? He has shown us undeserved love, not by accepting our sin and saying, that’s cool, just keep doing that. No, he’s shown us undeserved love by forgiving that sin that we don’t deserve that forgiveness. We deserve hell. But he has said, I will pay the price so that you can go free. And now what does he want us to do? He wants us to no longer live for ourselves and live in our sin, but to live for him who died for us and gave himself for us as well. And also, when it comes to other people, as we consider those who have hurt us, maybe in a horrific way, maybe it’s been abuse or something even worse than that. How can we possibly forgive such a person? Even if they come to us and they apologize? Well, the motivation to forgive them is ultimately found in Christ, in the way that he has forgiven us.

And as we forgive them, we don’t do so saying that was okay, that wasn’t really wrong. That was cool that you did that to me. No. We’re still acknowledging it was bad. We’re still acknowledging it was wrong. What we’re saying, even though it was wrong, I forgive you. I clear you of that debt toward me. You owe me nothing else. The relationship can be restored. And how can we do that? Well, it’s only because of the way in which God has shown grace and love and forgiveness towards us in Christ.

So grace is not acceptance of sin. Grace is forgiveness of sin, but a good thing for us to remember when it comes to our own lives and the way in which we interact with one another. Amen.

Matthew 10:28

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Does the devil punish people in hell? A number of weeks ago, I was watching a video online in which people were having this discussion. They said, it doesn’t really make sense if the devil is evil and he likes people to do evil, why does he punish people for doing evil in hell? And I think those that were having this discussion especially wanted to criticize Christianity and to show that Christianity doesn’t really make any sense at all.

However, there’s a lot of things that are confused in that conversation. In thinking that the devil punishes people in hell for doing evil things. Granted, I would say to that doesn’t really make sense, right? But I think maybe a passage that is helpful for us to consider is one found in Matthew chapter ten, verse 28. And Jesus says this to his disciples after he’s telling them not to be afraid of those that are persecuting them, those that are trying to harm them for proclaiming the good news of salvation in him. He goes on to say this. He says,

Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

He had just talked about those people that were persecuting Christians as the servants of Beelzebub doing the devil’s bidding. And so what is Jesus saying here, is he’s saying, well, don’t fear those people, they can only harm your body, instead, fear the devil because he can harm your body and soul and hell? No. That’s not what he’s saying at all. He’s saying, don’t be afraid of those who persecute you here on this earth and who do the devil’s bidding. But don’t be afraid of the devil either, for what he can do through those servants, instead, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body and hell. And who is that? It’s not the devil, it’s God.

God is the one who created hell as a place of punishment. And it was intended not to be for human beings, but it was intended for the devil and the other evil angels that had turned against God. We might wonder, though, then, does that make God evil? If God is the one who punishes people in hell. By no means. God is absolutely just. You know, in fact, what would make God evil is if God never punished sin. If God allowed all sin just to go unpunished, all victims never to have justice, right? If he never punished sin. But instead he does. And we see that very clearly in God’s Word, that he requires judgment and punishment for all sin.

So then, is there any hope for us as we know that we have all sinned? Well, God has shown mercy to mankind. And how has he shown mercy to us? How can he punish sin and yet show mercy upon sinners? Well, it all comes together in the cross. And I know I’ve said it many times before, but it’s a good reminder why Jesus had to go to the cross. Jesus didn’t simply go to the cross to show you that he loves you this much, to show you that he loves you so much that he’s willing to die for you. No, he went to the cross and actually to pay the punishment that your sins deserve. It was necessary for him to suffer. It was necessary for him to pay the price of your hell that you deserve. And he has. As he cries out from the cross, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He’s suffering the punishment you deserve so that you never have to in hell, but so that he can give you eternal life.

Because the price of your sin has been paid for, God now can declare of you that you are not guilty, and you are free to go, free to enter into his presence, free to enter into heaven forever with him. Trusting in Jesus, we can be confident that this fate is ours and heaven is ours because of him and because of what he has done. So is the devil trying to punish people in hell for doing bad things? By no means. The devil himself likes to do bad things and likes us to do bad things. No. Instead, let us understand what’s really going on. Hell is a place of punishment designed by God to carry out his justice, and yet know that there is escape from it through your Savior, Jesus Christ and what he has done for you. Amen.