Salvation Revealed

Ro 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel

of Christ, for it is the power of G-d to

salvation to everyone who believes; to the

Jew first, and also to the Greek.

17 For therein is revealed a righteousness

of G-d from faith to faith. As it is

written, "But the righteous shall live by

faith."

18 For the wrath of G-d is revealed from

heaven against all ungodliness and

unrighteousness of men, who hinder the

truth in unrighteousness,

19 because that which is known by G-d is

revealed in them, for G-d revealed it to

them.

20 For the invisible things of him since

the creation of the world are clearly seen,

being perceived through the things that are

made, even his everlasting power and

divinity; that they may be without excuse.


Looking at the graphics from yesterday's
post, someone might respond, oh well, it's
just a bunch of pop cans. Yeah, it is.
But it's also a reproduction of a famous
work of art. Up close, it looks almost
like a random assortment of empty pop cans.
From a distance, where you have the
advantage of a full perspective, the art
reproduction emerges from what looks like a
random assortment of empty pop cans. In a
sense, the further away you get from the
pop can art, the more the design is
revealed.


In a way, that represents the whole of
scripture. Looking close up, it seems like
it's just an unusual tale of woe or an
account of an historic episode. But as you
consider that it came together over the
course of maybe something like a thousand
years, piece by piece, there is a design
that emerges from the collection of pieces.
Jesus arrived to show, in person, what the
design represents specifically. It
represents him. That's the message in the
passage above. Paul the apostle was
priveledged to see the design at the time
of its initial completion. Since he was
intimately familiar with Hebrew scripture,
He saw the image of Christ clearly, as soon
as Jesus introduced himself to Saul of
Tarsus on the road to Damascus. We are all
familiar with the passage.


Acts 9:1 But Saul, still breathing threats

and slaughter against the disciples of the

Lord, went to the high priest,

2 and asked for letters from him to the

synagogues of Damascus, that if he found

any who were of the Way, whether men or

women, he might bring them bound to

Jerusalem.

3 As he traveled, it happened that he got

close to Damascus, and suddenly a light

from the sky shone around him.

4 He fell on the earth, and heard a voice

saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you

persecute me?"

5 He said, "Who are you, Lord?" The Lord

said, "I am Jesus, whom you are

persecuting.


I can't help but think that all along, Saul
was able to see the Divine design staring
at him from the pages of scripture. He
just needed a little help to identify
exactly who was the object of his faith.
The way of salvation, by faith, was
revealed to Saul of Tarsus. It was always
there, he just didn't see it until it was
revealed to him. Then he met Jesus.


That's what happens to folks when they meet
Jesus. The way of salvation is revealed to
them. It was always there, they just
didn't see it until they met Jesus. Here's
a passage from the time of Jesus' ministry.


John 3:4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can a

man be born when he is old? Can he enter a

second time into his mother`s womb, and be

born?"

5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly I tell

you, unless one is born of water and the

Spirit, he can`t enter into the kingdom of

G-d!

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh.

That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Don`t marvel that I said to you, `You

must be born anew.`

8 The wind blows where it wants to, and you

hear its sound, but don`t know where it

comes from and where it is going. So is

everyone who is born of the Spirit."


Since the modern doctrine of materialism
tells us that there is no such thing as a
'spirit', it is at first glance, easy to
reject the idea of salvation by faith --
the birth of the Spirit. Well, Jesus says
it about as plainly as it can be said.
It's there, whether you see it or not.
Verse eight puts it well. The wind blows
and you can feel it, but you can't see it.
The illustration is plain even for the lack
of knowledge in those days. These days, we
understand the mechanics of the atmosphere
a little better than they did. Why, we
even have global warming. I'm just happy
to hear we won't be getting to 0K in my
time. But first, I think that our sun
would have to collapse. That will be a
major cause of global warming, whether we
restrict the use of carbon fuels or not.
Sorry about that.


In other words, even though you can't see
something, you can see it's effects.
There is still the illustration of gravity
that I like. It's not known what the cause
of the force is. We just know it's there,
even though we can't see it. Do you
suppose that it could have been designed
that way? Gravity happens, whether you
believe in it or not. Maybe, some day, it
will be revealed.