CYBERCHURCHIANS
Thursday 19th August 1999
Epistle to The Cyberchurch
GREETINGS
To my dearest beloved,
(we are just back from wedding anniversary celebration in Peninsular
Malaysia) my wonderful cyber-family, members of one body, united throughout
cyberspace by the grace of God and the love of Christ, and united by a
chain of electrons: Grace and peace to you!
TEXT
Today we look at Romans 1:21-32
CONTEXT
Paul is writing about the wrath of God to be unleashed upon those who
refuse to acknowledge the existence of God, even though the manifestation
of the works of His hand are plain to see.
PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING
Why we here on earth?
What are we doing?
What is the purpose of life?
Perhaps Romans 1:21 captures the very reason for our existence.
The wicked people do not know:
Even though they know God,
they did not glorify him or give thanks to him (Rom 1:21)
So beloved, this is our key, our prompt, our guide:
We know God.
We have seen His hand at work.
We recognise Him as Creator.
We accept His Son as LORD and Master and Saviour.
It must be our desire and purpose in life to glorify God
and to give thanks to him.
GLORIFY
The Greek word that Paul used for "glorified" is Strong's Concordance
#1392, doxazo, "dox-ad-zo", to render or esteem glorious, make glorious,
full of glory, honour, magnify.
(from #1391, doxa, glory)
Not that by giving God glory we can make Him any more glorious,
but by giving God glory,
we reveal the esteem with which we regard Him.
we recognise the matchless radiance of His being.
We know our final destiny in all of eternity
is to join the angels and archangels
and all the company of heaven in an unending hymn
"Holy holy holy,
is the LORD God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come"
(Rev 4:8)
We give God praise, because He is worthy to be praised.
We give Him glory, laud and honour,
as we acknowledge His greatness.
We, who know God, who are accepted as His children, should seek to glorify Him in all we do.
GIVE THANKS
Another failing of wicked people:
Knowing God, and understanding what He has done for all of creation
in general,
and for each one as an individual in particular,
they failed to give thanks:
But are we any better?
Knowing God, and understanding what He has done for all of creation
in general,
and for each one us as an individual in particular,
have we failed to give thanks?
Very often we have failed.
we take for granted
air
water
food
home
family
health
some hair on our head
a brain inside
two eyes
a nose
a mouth
most of our teeth
two hands
two arms
two legs
two feet
love
mercy
grace.....
We just take and take and take,
and never pause to give God thanks
NOW is the time to pause and give thanks...
Abba Father, Thank You for blessings upon blessings.
(and you may continue to list the blessings that come to your mind,
and thank God for them).
HEART AND MIND
We are taught to love God with all our being, with our heart and soul
and strength (Deut 6:5), with all our heart and soul and mind (Matt 22:37).
Wicked people use their minds fruitlessly, in vain, without profit,
without benefit, without thinking of God.
God gave us our brain, and the capacity to think, and the ability to
make choices.
Let us use our brain to thank God, to glorify Him, and to further the
kingdom.
AMEN!
Hearts, not so much as the organ to pump blood, but the seat of emotion,
the fount of love:
The wicked have darkened their foolish hearts. They purposely blind
themselves to the truth.
Let us ask God to soften our hearts, to enlighten our hearts, that
we may always seek the truth, and having found it, embrace it. Let us ask
God to soften our hearts, to enlighten our hearts, that we may always seek
God, and having found Him, embrace Him.
HUMAN WISDOM
Rom 1:22 Some people think that they are smart, wise, clever. But worldly
wisdom comes to naught if it fails to take into account the spiritual plane
of things. The wickedness of these people is that they refused to acknowledge
God's place in their lives.
IDOLATRY
Rom 1:23,25 Such foolishness: Rejecting The Living God, they chose
to worship idols made by human hand, images of man, bird and beast.
And very often, do we not do the same?
And if it is not a graven image of creature that walks or crawls or
flies or swims that we worship, we may still fall into the sin of idol
worship, making something that is powerless and elevating it in our eyes
to be our god.
A TV programme: "Will die if I don't watch it"
The stock-market: commands our rapt attention, 24 hours a day
A special game: be it golf, soccer, tennis: willing to skip church
in order to play
A computer: rather turn on the computer and surf rather than open the
bible.
hmmm.. guilty?
So it seems that many of us do have idols that we worship fervently.
LUST
Rom 1:24, 26, 27. The result of ungodliness is sexual promiscuity:
instant gratification: any which way. Heterosexual. Homosexual. Bi-sexual.
In contrast, as we cling to God's word, God's will, God's way, He allows
sexual intimacy within marriage: love, commitment, fidelity.
DOWN THE SLIPPERY SLOPE
Rom 1:28-32 The knowledge of God is so precious.
If you already know God, cling on to Him.
If you do not yet know God, get to know Him through His Son.
But if you persist with no knowledge of God in your heart and mind,
the emptiness that results will hand you over to depravity.
AND TODAY
The tragic thing about the horrendous list that follows is that so
many of them apply to us.
Think about it.
Go through that checklist:
Which of the evil activities apply to us?
Wickedness, evil, greed, depravity?
Envy, strife, deceit, malice, gossips, slanderers?
Insolent, boastful, disobedient?
Senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless?
Knowing what we do is wrong yet persisting in doing wrong?
God's word is there to guide us.
If we confess our sins they are forgiven.
And back to adoration and worship, praise and thanksgiving,
praising God for who He is,
and thanking Him for what He has done.
CLOSING PRAYER
Mighty God
Thank you for Your Word.
Help us keep our feet on the straight and narrow path.
In the name of Jesus
Amen.