The Romans Road pt.5 - Epic

The Romans Road pt.5

The Bible

Epic

Dear Family,

As we are completing this walk down the Romans Road I wanted to look forward rather than backwards. We started this walk in Genesis and we've covered the gospels. However, that's not where the story ends, in fact all of this has been like parts one and two of an epic story.

In Part one we found God creating, doing what He does best. We found Adam and Eve in the perfect World God had created for them, living with Him, walking with Him, loving Him. We saw God's creation in all it's glorious perfection, shining as the reflection of it's creator. That didn't last too long though because all of a sudden there was a twist, a turn, the story line changed dramatically, God's creation turned traitor on Him! The perfect apex of His creation choose of it's own free will to commit treason, how horrible an act that was. We were able to imagine God's heart breaking as He learned of this deed, of Adam and Eve's fall from perfection As He explained to them of their punishment and the curse upon the earth as a result of their actions. We saw God's pain and His heartbreak as something real, as something not in a book written eons ago, but as a father loosing His children, or as a husband loosing His wife... and part one ends with Adam and Eve forced to leave the Garden of Eden and now owe a debt for their actions against their creator Part one ends with a death sentence for all mankind.

Part two begins in Heaven, where a heartbroken God turns to His Son and explains how much He still loves His creation despite everything that has taken place, despite their rebellion, their apparent disregard for His laws and rules. God asks His Son to put on skin just like them. He asks Him to go down to earth, and then He asks Him to pay the price tag, to pick up the tab for this debt of death that mankind owes and pay it once and for all. God showed us just how much He love us and wants everything to be right again, just the way He made it in the first place by sending His son to die in the place of all mankind. And that's were Part three ends, with a death sentence, Jesus' death on a Roman cross bearing the weight of the sin of all mankind.

Which brings us to Part three! And no, it doesn't end in a death sentence, well not for everyone anyway. Part three begins right now, here, in the present... the “Church Age”... and we're waiting. waiting for what? We're waiting for Jesus to come and get us! You see, part of what Jesus did on the cross by paying off our debt was to make it so that we can live and walk and be with God again! The best part is this, when Jesus ate what we call “the last supper” with His followers, he was explaining something to them simply by what they were eating. Bread and Wine, simple enough right?

Let me explain, what the followers of Jesus saw Him doing was preforming an engagement ceremony. I need to add right here with all of the Da Vinci Code non-sense floating around, that this was meant to be a symbol, a teaching, not a literal engagement to any person, male or female... ok, that being said i'll continue. Bread and Wine held a special meaning to a middle-easterner, it was a symbol of engagement, we have a diamond ring, they used bread and wine. And the tradition was this, after the groom and bride to be had shared the bread and wine, the groom-to-be would return to his father's house and build onto it a house for his bride and himself. After the house was ready, the groom would return and take his bride home. But here's the catch, this could happen at any time, the bride-to-be had no idea when he would return so she had to wait in readiness for His return... this is the meaning of the bread and wine. When Jesus said do this in remembrance of me, He was asking us to remember that He is going to come back one day and take us to be with His Father again! WHAT!?!

Now, here's the clincher. The house that Jesus is building for us, an entire new heaven and a new earth! He's re-building everything for us, and Revelation 21:3 says “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” Sound remotely familiar? Because it is! Jesus didn't just fix our debt, He's fixed everything we messed up in the Garden of Eden way back in the beginning. Take some time and read Chapter 21 of Revelation...

Wow, isn't that amazing!? That's what we have waiting for us, I can't wait for it! However, it's not for everyone. It is the free gift of God, yes. However one has to be willing to come to Jesus and receive it. The bible says that if we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord and that God has raised him from the dead, we will be saved. That's it. Period, no hidden agenda, no membership fees, or annual charges. The free gift of God is a free gift for anyone who believes that that what the Bible says is true and that Jesus has paid the price for the sin we were born into, and that He is going to take us one day back to a perfect creation, exactly the way He intended in the first place.

That's all it takes, no fancy prayers, no huge dramatic ceremonies, just you and Jesus. I like to put it this way, I know that my parents love, but it's great to hear them say it every once an a while. It's the same thing with Jesus, He knows your heart, but He wants to hear it from you. That's why the bible says to confess with your mouth AND believe it in your heart, they go hand in hand like salt and pepper, like white on rice... you get the picture. Take some time tonight and think about these things, ask God for understanding and I promise you this, HE IS FAITHFUL.

Until,

Hunter S. Brewer

P.S. Part three doesn't end, because we're still waiting for Jesus, and besides we're going to live with Him forever anyway... so is there ever really an end to part three?