Understanding God's Plan

Today, I feel thankful. We've spent the past few weeks in the first chapter of Romans where Paul lays out with clarity the sinful condition of mankind. It would be very difficult if his letter to the Romans ended there, signing off with something like:

"Well, that is the deplorable condition of mankind, folks! We've certainly made a mess of things! Have a nice day! love, Brother Paul"

But, of course, as we will discover in the weeks ahead, Paul is simply laying a foundation for our need of a Savior in this first chapter. He will go on to lay out, brick by brick, God's plan for saving us all from our sin. So stay tuned, folks.

But I digress...why do I feel thankful? There are all kinds of little nuggets of things in Romans 1 to be thankful for:

1:2 "...the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding His Son, who as to His human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord."

(I'm thankful that, clearly, a faithful God kept His promises.)

1:11-12 "I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith."

(I'm thankful for the body of Christ where we encourage and pray for and support one another.)

1:16 "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."

(I'm thankful for the gospel message that is powerful enough to provide for all people who will believe.)

1:20 "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

(I am thankful that God speaks to us even through creation. Our innermost being cries out "There is a God!")

1:24 "Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another."

(God gave them over to what they wanted to do. Gave them permission to go their own way. I'm thankful that it doesn't say that He gave up on them, does it?)

1:28 - 32 "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."

This last section of the chapter, Paul kind of "backs up the truck" and lays it all out. In a nutshell, he said--

"They did their thing and God let them, and this is how it turned out! Not so good, eh?"

He shows us that through all of man's choices, the evil continues to grow. It grows. It evolves. Verse 30 tells us that man invented ways of doing evil. So the Creator created what was good (see Genesis 1:31) and then His creation--man, through his sinful choices, used his own creativity to invent ways to sin. Lovely!

And what do we have? Rampant sin. Mutating evil. Hopelessness. No way to extricate ourselves from not only our personal sin but the thousands of years of the "culture of sin" that we live in.

So why am I thankful? I am thankful that Paul didn't sign off here, just like God didn't write us off. The story will continue, and it will be one of grace, mercy, love, and compassion. God sees. God loves. God redeems.

It's the best story around, and I am excited to tell it!