What I Deserve

TITLE: What I Deserve
DATE: June 18, 2019
TEXT: Romans 6:23 – ESV - 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Life isn’t fair. I’ve said it; my children have said it; my grandchildren say it and I imagine you do too,
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We get upset at fate, we get upset at karma, kismet, fortune and destiny. We even get upset with the Triune God. That’s right, not even the good and gracious, Triune God escapes humanity’s challenge: How many times has He not heard: “It’s not fair! Lord, when are You going to be fair? When are they going to get punished and when am I going to get what’s coming to me?”

Now I don’t know if it’s any comfort for you to know you’re not the first to ask these questions of the Lord. In the Old Testament, afflicted Job wanted to know, (21:7-13 excerpts) “Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power?...  Their houses are safe from fear,…They spend their days in prosperity…”

 The author of Psalm 84 (84:3-6 excerpts) asks, “O Lord, how long shall the wicked… exult?... They crush your people, O Lord,…They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless.” Even the martyrs in the book of Revelation (6:10) want to know: “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

Folks in the Bible, you, me, we all want to know, “When am I going to get what’s coming to me?”

And this is where we run into a problem. The problem is: if God were really going to give us what we’ve got coming, we’d be sunk, doomed, theologically speaking, we’d be damned. Now I’m pretty sure you think you’re a pretty good person, at least most of the time. Most of us consider ourselves to be fine fellows, great gals, individuals who lead pretty good lives.

You should know, there’s a problem with that kind of thinking. That’s because the Lord, when He judges people, doesn’t compare us with each other. He compares us with Himself. Now in contrast to people you may be great; next to God you are a stinker. The long and short of it is this: if you are a sinner, and you are; if you are a sinner you will be punished. Do you want to know what you’ve got coming to you? The Lord will tell you: “The soul who sins shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:20)

Does that seem unfair to you? Probably. Most of the world says, “Hey, that’s not right. The good ought to get good stuff for what they do and the bad ought to be punished with bad stuff. The worse the sinner, the worse the bad stuff.” If that’s what you’re thinking, you might be pleased to know God agrees with you. God thinks: ‘If you are a sinner, you will be punished and if you are a bad sinner, you will be punished more.’”

My friend, we are sinners punishment is what we’ve got coming to us. Death is what we deserve. And that’s about as discouraging and depressing a message as I can stand. Thankfully, a prediction of punishment and pain is not the end of this message.

It’s not the end because, in the midst of all the bad news, I’ve got good news. Good News. That’s what the angel called Jesus when the Son of God was born in Bethlehem. “Fear not”, the angel said, and then he explained why we don’t have to be afraid. He continued, “I’ve got good News of great joy which is for all people. Unto you is born a Savior, Christ the Lord.’

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks for Jesus the good News, my Savior. I rejoice that in Him I have been given not what I deserve but what I need. May I share this Divine truth with others who really don’t want what they have coming.. This I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann. He along with three of his brothers perform on the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html