Weekly "Call To Worship" Encouragement

Deuteronomy 32:

Listen, you heavens, and I will speak;
    hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.
2 Let my teaching fall like rain
    and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
    like abundant rain on tender plants.

3 I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
    Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
    upright and just is he.

There was a point in my life when I considered myself agnostic, but I was searching for God.  I’ve always paid attention to the newspapers and to history and I was convinced that there was much wrong with the world; you could say that I believed in the existence of evil.  But, I wasn’t sure about God. 

Like most people and most cultures, I believed in the difference between right and wrong.  But the question for me, and maybe for you, is who decides what is right and what is wrong?  If people or cultures or even governments decide, you have situational ethics, you have moral relativism.  With this fluid standard, you see exactly all of the problems in the world today and throughout history, you see the fallen world that we live in.

But, if God decides, you have a perfect standard because his works are perfect, and all his ways are just.  As a young man, the Holy Spirit was working on my heart because I realized that there must be this perfect, ultimate standard of what is right, and therefore there must be a God.

I quickly realized that I was on the wrong side of the standard.  As Romans 3:23 says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

This was a big problem, I was lost.  And I needed a solution, I needed God’s grace.  Yes, Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” but listen to verse 24

 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Yes, God is perfectly just and righteous, and He will never make a mistake, but don’t forget, He is also perfectly loving and gracious.  And that is why He sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins.  He died on a cross for our sins, was dead and buried, and the rose on the third day, destroying sin and death.

I accepted that truth many years ago and put Christ on in baptism.  I accept that truth today and declare it to you this morning.  We are called to worship. Let’s pray.