O The Depth Of The Riches...
When The WORD hits
IT WAS A TUESDAY morning and my eldest daughter and I were heading to the local train station for her 07:59 train to Skansen, Trondheim.
En route I said to her; “Darling, never ever be afraid to stand up for the Lord Jesus Christ.” “Yes dad.” She replied as she sat in the front box of our cargo bicycle.
As we reached the pedestrian crossing over from the train station, we were met with the often frustrating RED LIGHT; one we’ve stood before on many occasions. “You know my darling, no one will ever love you more than Jesus will”, “He died for you on Calvary’s cross my little pumpkin” I said to her as we waited (I said this to her due to a recent email still fresh in my mind that I had sent to the headmistress of our local kindergarten addressing the ‘Pride’ flag issue in the month of June.)
As the red light shifted to the green light, I started peddling over the crossing and just then Romans 5:7-8 KJV sprung to mind “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, Christ died for us. Over the next few metres of walk way heading to the platform to park up I saw the verse like I’d never seen it before.
A SWEET SCINTILLA
“While we were YET sinners,…”
Have you ever had that? “Had what?” You might ask yourself.
Have you ever read a passage over and over but then one day one word in a verse hits home? Maybe you have, peradventure you have not. If not, exercise 1st Corinthians 16:13’s “Watch ye, STAND FAST IN THE FAITH, quit you like men, be strong.” and it will no doubt happen to you too. Try it…
IN A FRISSON
You know, in those two verses, Romans 5:7-8 KJV, those two types of men; the righteous and the good man, they were around in the Apostle Paul’s time and have been since. I would even venture to say that those two types of men were also around in what Ephesians 2:11 calls “time past”.
MY POINT
TWO MAJOR things came to mind as I waited for the train with my daughter; the first was the issue of a righteous man and the good man.
Are they ‘one and the same’ as the saying goes? Or are they different types of men? We’ll address this shortly, but before we do, the second issue that came to mind was this: Romans 5:8’s “…while we were YET sinners, Christ died for us.” OH BOY, THAT HIT HOME FOR ME.
On the first issue I considered this; Based on Romans 6, the very next chapter after we read about the righteous man and the good man we learn about our new position ‘in Christ’ and that we “should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4 cf Colossians 2:6; Ephesians 4:1, 17-19, 30 et al) You see that word there ‘SHOULD’?
I thought this; both the righteous man and the good man are justified men in the sense of Romans 3:21-3:28 KJV forsooth. The thing is a righteous man can put on the “…old man…”(Romans 6:6 KJV) and do the things Romans 1:18-32 talks about. Do you see that?
A good man remembers who he is ‘in Christ’ he remembers his ambassadorship (2 Corinthians 5:20 KJV) He walks in line with that inter-dispensational verse Matthew 12:35 KJV too. He’d have ‘TITUS’ in his thinking…among other Pauline truth.
That’s why I believe the Holy Spirit via the pen of the Apostle Paul used those illustrations. Something I think about in the light of the above is; would I die for Brother Richard Jordan? A ‘good man’. Truth is I’d probably chicken out and I would probably not be ‘peradventuring’ that day…(N.B. I love Rick and Dr. Pepper loves him too)
THE SECOND ISSUE
Then, about that second issue, Romans 5:8 where Paul writes “while we were yet sinners,…”
Those two words; ‘yet’ and ‘sinners’.
Juxtaposed to the ‘righteous’ and ‘good’ men Paul writes of ‘sinners’ and to boot… ‘yet’. Can you see the two groups? It’s Romans 5:12-5:21 KJV - we either are found in Adam or in Christ. God knew we were going to be in Adam and just look what he planned to do FOR US! AND HE DID IT TOO! “…Christ died for us.”
This is what amazed me once again about our Father in heaven, Abba, Father; how in eternity past he knew about me, he knew about YOU - and just how much he loved and loves us!… and what the GODHEAD planned (not in a Calvinist fashion or way, let me be clear.) Ephesians chapter one comes to mind and the following;
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable [are] his judgements, and his ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom [be] glory for ever. Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36 KJV)
As I write this I’m still amazed. I’m amazed at just how “…,beloved of God,” (Romans 1:7 KJV) we are. Amen.
FROM A DISTANCE
The train approach slowly and before long Maud was on the train to Skansen. The doors shut as we waved each other good-bye and shortly after the train departed I cycled home and now I find myself writing this article to… YOU.
Grace and peace,
Karl R. Coates