"Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?... For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." Romans 11:33-36
In chapter one Bridges tells a story about a Southern plantation owner who left a $50,000 inheritance to a former slave who had served him faithfully all his life. The slave was informed of this however, only asked for 50 cents because he had never handled money his entire life, and had no comprehension of his wealth. The story illustrates the plight of many Christians today. The apostle Paul wrote of preaching “to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8). Paul was not referring to financial wealth but to the glorious truths of the saying that each of us has $50,000 available to us in the Gospel. I feel that we don’t understand the riches of the gospel any more than that slave understood how much $50,000 was back in that time.
The word gospel means, essentially, “good news.” And it is specifically good news about our relationship with God.
The Bible tells us that we were in deep trouble with God, that we were unrighteous and ungodly. And then it tells us that God’s wrath is revealed from heaven “against all the godlessness and wickedness of men.” It also tells us that we were by nature objects of God’s wrath (Romans 1:18; 3:10-12; Ephesians 2:3)
One thing I found encouraging was that he wrote, “We can begin each day with the deeply encouraging realization that I am accepted by God, not on the basis of my personal performance, but on the basis of the infinitely perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.”
We as sinners owe an enormous spiritual debt to God – a debt we can’t begin to pay. There is no way we can make it good. The gospel tells us that Jesus Christ paid our debt, but it also tells us that we are no longer enemies and objects of His wrath and that we are now His sons and daughters, heirs with Jesus Christ of all His unsearchable riches.
Jesus once told a story about a king’s servant who owed his master ten thousand talents. One talent was equal to about twenty years’ wages for a working man. Ten thousand talents then would have been impossible to pay. In the context of the story, that immense sum represents a spiritual debt that every one of us owes to God. It is the debt of our sins. And, for each of us, it is a staggering amount. There is no way we can pay it. This is what the gospel is all about. Jesus paid our debt to the full. He also purchased for us eternal inheritance worth infinitely more than any amount.
1 comment:
I remember being extremely convicted after reading the story of the slave who only asked for 50 cents when he could have had $50,000. How often do I do the same with the inheritance that God has granted me. Excellent post Nick
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