Monday, June 20, 2011

Verse 9

"For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God."

I can't do this verse justice. If you didn't catch it on Friday, I suggest you read the context for what Paul is talking about here in Acts 9:1-19.

Click it!

I'm going to assume you did and this is what you found, a man named Saul (we'll know him as Paul later) is not a fan of these followers of Yahweh called The Way. He's overseen the murder of one of their members (Acts 7), he's chased them all around Jerusalem, and now he's taking his work on the road to going to Damascus to go after the Christ-followers there.

But, as he approaches the city, a bright light knocks him to the ground and before the day is over Paul is one of these Christ-followers and not just that, but he has been divinely appointed to be God's "chosen instrument."

This is evidence the Bible is not a collection of predictable, made up stories. Because no one would predict this story.

This story goes beyond our expectations. It goes beyond human expectations. And, rightly so, because people aren't the writers of this story, God is writing this story. And it shows the character of God.

He's not a God who acts in a predictable, scientifically-repeatable manner. He's not a God who manages a meritocracy, where people get what they have earned. He's not a God, who decides who he can or cannot use on our qualifications.

But, instead, he is a God who loves the terrorist (this is basically what Paul was). He is a God who comes down to rescue those who absolutely deserve punishment. He is a God who changes lives.

Paul's life changed that day.

Paul went from the chief persecutor of the church to the chief proponent of the church. Paul went from a man who would travel far and wide to imprison Christians to a man who would travel thousands of miles to release people from sin and death through the message of the risen Christ. On the micro scale, that day, Paul himself crossed over from life to death, from unknown to God to adopted son, and from vile murderer to perfectly, righteous saint.

This is the hope we have in a God who changes lives.

You are never too far gone.

You are never too deep in trouble.

You will never exhaust God's love, grace, or pursuit.

The God who rescues his own enemies in the same business today.

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8

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