Romans Rewind
I'm current find myself packing up to head back for my 3rd year at MC. That's really crazy to think about. I've been wanting to blog for quite some time (literally since I began studying through Romans a week and a half ago!), but have just been putting it off and putting if off. So, I'm trying to stop that horrible habit and begin anew today. So here it goes...
Romans has had me learning a lot. And I mean a lot. I haven't studied through this book in awhile, and so I went into it kinda with the attitude of "I got this". Note to self, as well as to you....Don't approach the Word with that attitude. It really just doesn't work that way. His Word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). Can we really expect to ever fully get it? No, because it is ALIVE. Not that it changes, but that the revelation of itself is different every time you read it. Just like looking at a sunrise or a sunset. It is never going to look the same, though its character--the very fact that it is a sunrise or sunset--never changes.
So, that said, I have been learning a lot. I think I can narrow down 2 of my favorite things God has taught me in the past week or so.
The first is from Romans 3. Check out verses 21-22: "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it--the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe."
As I read this verse, immediately 2 Corinthians 5:21 came into my mind: "For our sake He [God] made Him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
Wow. Can you wrap your mind around it as I did? We are the vessels of God's righteousness. We are apart of that manifestation of it, not because of our works, but because of the work Christ did on the cross for our sake. Wow. My heart just cried out as I read it, "This is why we must live for Him. It's our purpose now. We cannot just 'become a Christian' Everything must change."
One of the main things I was taught this summer was how much people really are watching us. As I wrote earlier, my teammate and I were known as "the missionaries," and it was really made obvious to me just how much the girls noticed when we were each given a gift; a small cloth doll with strips hanging down as the skirt, and on each strip a characteristic the girls saw in us. It blew us away. We just sat and bawled as we read them. Some were funny/inside jokes, like "missionary shoes" (yay chacos!) or "softball buddy." But others blew us away. Like we were both given the blessing of being called Proverbs 31 women. Wow, really? They paid that much attention? The answer is yes. And the thing we must realize is that it is not just the younger generation watching us; everyone is watching us. If you call yourself a Christian, you are instantly given a standard of conduct. God said, "Be holy as I am holy." That's deep stuff. We must realize that if we are truly His followers, that we have been given this task of living lives of righteousness. That was apart of the exchange on the cross, as 2 Cor. 5:21 has said. Are we living like that exchange truly happened in our hearts? I pray that we are. The world is watching.
Ok, so the 2nd thing I've learned is going to be saved for another blog post. Because this one is bigger. But if you wanna be prepared for it, check out Romans 4. Good stuff. Until then, remember that we are indeed to be His righteousness to the world. Who's watching you? And what are they seeing?
Romans has had me learning a lot. And I mean a lot. I haven't studied through this book in awhile, and so I went into it kinda with the attitude of "I got this". Note to self, as well as to you....Don't approach the Word with that attitude. It really just doesn't work that way. His Word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). Can we really expect to ever fully get it? No, because it is ALIVE. Not that it changes, but that the revelation of itself is different every time you read it. Just like looking at a sunrise or a sunset. It is never going to look the same, though its character--the very fact that it is a sunrise or sunset--never changes.
So, that said, I have been learning a lot. I think I can narrow down 2 of my favorite things God has taught me in the past week or so.
The first is from Romans 3. Check out verses 21-22: "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it--the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe."
As I read this verse, immediately 2 Corinthians 5:21 came into my mind: "For our sake He [God] made Him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
Wow. Can you wrap your mind around it as I did? We are the vessels of God's righteousness. We are apart of that manifestation of it, not because of our works, but because of the work Christ did on the cross for our sake. Wow. My heart just cried out as I read it, "This is why we must live for Him. It's our purpose now. We cannot just 'become a Christian' Everything must change."
One of the main things I was taught this summer was how much people really are watching us. As I wrote earlier, my teammate and I were known as "the missionaries," and it was really made obvious to me just how much the girls noticed when we were each given a gift; a small cloth doll with strips hanging down as the skirt, and on each strip a characteristic the girls saw in us. It blew us away. We just sat and bawled as we read them. Some were funny/inside jokes, like "missionary shoes" (yay chacos!) or "softball buddy." But others blew us away. Like we were both given the blessing of being called Proverbs 31 women. Wow, really? They paid that much attention? The answer is yes. And the thing we must realize is that it is not just the younger generation watching us; everyone is watching us. If you call yourself a Christian, you are instantly given a standard of conduct. God said, "Be holy as I am holy." That's deep stuff. We must realize that if we are truly His followers, that we have been given this task of living lives of righteousness. That was apart of the exchange on the cross, as 2 Cor. 5:21 has said. Are we living like that exchange truly happened in our hearts? I pray that we are. The world is watching.
Ok, so the 2nd thing I've learned is going to be saved for another blog post. Because this one is bigger. But if you wanna be prepared for it, check out Romans 4. Good stuff. Until then, remember that we are indeed to be His righteousness to the world. Who's watching you? And what are they seeing?
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