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CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
THE WORD OF THE LORD
Romans 5:1–6 NIV
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
CONSIDER THIS . . .
Gravity. Let’s try to put our heads around how gravity works.
Physics defines gravity as a force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth, or toward any other physical body having mass.
As a thought exercise, consider two opposing gravitational powers: The power of Sin, which pulls us down into the realm of death, and the power of grace, which pulls us up into the realm of life. This is a helpful framework for me to think through chapters 5 through 8 of Romans.
Before we proceed, let’s make clear that these two gravitational powers are in no way equal, as grace is infinitely more powerful than Sin. However, let’s also acknowledge that both gravitational powers exert force on our lives at the same time, creating a dire conflicted-ness in the church in the midst of the desperate chaos in the world outside the church. For simplicity’s sake, I like to think of them as the gravity of heaven and the gravity of hell.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
As has been noted and yet cannot be overstressed, we are born into the power of Sin and bound in the realm of death (i.e., the gravity of hell). By the mercy of God through the cross of Jesus Christ—in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension—the power of Sin has been broken and the curse of death has been defeated. In other words, human beings can escape the gravity of sin, death, and hell, but only by the power of grace, and be caught up in the gravity of life and love, which is the realm of heaven.
Now here is the grace of God in its most potent biblical sound bite:
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
So how does gravity work? It just works. Salvation shifts the center of gravity from the power of Sin to the power of God.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
Faith is not a matter of mere belief in this as true. It is a movement of trust.
The secret is Jesus. He is our center of gravity. He sits at the right hand of God in the heavens—and simultaneously he sits on the throne of our hearts. In other words, amazing grace is the very real life-on-earth-as-it-is-in-heaven. A trusting faith in Jesus is the key, not a passive belief in God.
How does the gravity of the gospel work? Let’s give Paul the last word today:
because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
PRAYER
God our Father, thank you for the gospel, who is Jesus Christ, through whom we are delivered from the gravity of Sin, death, and hell and into the gravity of grace, life, and heaven. Thank you that these are not abstract concepts but that they have been fleshed out in the literal physical body of Jesus Christ himself. Holy Spirit, please interpret these things into my deepest mind and heart such that they would flow out and into every fiber of my being and aspect of my everyday life. Jesus, you are the secret. You are the gospel. I belong to you. Praying in your name. Amen.
JOURNAL PROMPTS
Does the gravity analogy help you to better grasp how both Sin and grace work upon and within our lives? What might it mean for you to walk in faith—to step out of the gravity of Sin and into the gravity of grace?
SING
Today, we will sing “Love Lifted Me” (hymn 89) from our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise.
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For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
John David (J. D.) Walt Jr. is the Sower-in-Chief for Seedbed and the pastor of the Gillett Methodist Church in Gillett, Arkansas.
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4 Responses
But it’s not a constant, steady gravity. It’s like how gravity affects the ocean. Sometimes the tide is high, and there are deep and joyful waves on the heavenly beach, but sometimes it is low and can barely make it to shore… but “hope does not put us to shame” because the tide always, always comes back.
AMEN!
I like to use the analogy of gravity as well, only in reverse: noting that the centripetel force of the earth’s spinning ought to send us all flying out into the lostness of space, but the constant grace of God keeps us grounded, pulling us toward His love.
Our propensity to Sin and rebellious acts of sins fight against the goodness God has for us , leading only to being lost and far from God.
Of course, any analogy breaks down if over-analyzed, and cannot fully explain God’s grace.
AMEN!