The season of Lent is intended to prepare us to celebrate Easter, the death and resurrection of Christ. It is designed to help us explore why we need salvation by meditating on our human condition. In this fourth week of Lent, here is a devotion that teaches us the importance of recognizing the sin in and around us:

IN WORD – If you fail to take seriously what the Bible says about who we are and about the nature of the world we live in, you will live with unrealistic expectations, you’ll be naive when it comes to temptation, and you’ll find yourself regularly surprised and disappointed. Let’s examine what the Bible says about us and our world in this period of time between the “already” and the “not yet.”
Although God’s work of redemption has begun, you and I still live in a world that is terribly broken and simply does not function in the beautiful way that God intended when He put it together. No passage captures the current brokenness of our world better than Romans 8. Paul employs three provocative phrases to capture this brokenness: “subjected to futility” (v. 20), “bondage to decay” (v. 21), and “in the pains of childbirth” (v. 22). There is a constant futility to life in a fallen world. Things just don’t work right, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t escape the frustration of a world that’s not operating properly. There is death and decay all around us. People die. Things die. Dreams die. Relationships die. Physical creation dies. Then there are times when the suffering is severe, just like the acute pain of childbirth.
Under the weight of all this brokenness, Paul says that this world is “groaning together” (v. 22). Scripture calls you to be aware of the environment in which you live. The Bible also has clear and humbling things to say about you and me. John says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Yes, the power of sin has been broken, but the presence of sin still remains inside us and is being progressively eradicated by God’s delivering grace. So every day we all give empirical evidence that we are sinners. We all still carry around inside us the darkness of iniquity, transgression, and sin.
IN DEED – We have not yet fully escaped the dire danger that is us. Now, if you fail to take seriously what the Bible has to say about the world in which you live and you fail to take seriously what the Bible has to say about what still lives inside you, you won’t seek the forgiving, rescuing, protecting, transforming, and delivering grace that is your only hope. That grace alone has the power to protect you from the evil outside you and to deliver you from the evil that lives inside you. In a real way, things are worse than you ever thought they could be, but God’s grace is greater than you could ever have imagined it would be. Biblical faith lives at the intersection of shocking honesty and glorious hope. “Facing disappointment and failure? Don’t be surprised—you’re still flawed and your world is still fallen. For this, there’s grace.” – Paul David Tripp (in “New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional” by Paul David Tripp)

When we understand the extent of God grace and Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross, we understand the depths of our sin and or depravity. Take time to read Isaiah 52 – 55 and 1 John 1 this week, a chapter a day, and reflect on what Jesus had to do to atone for our sins and redeem us from Satan’s bondage. Know that if you are willing to acknowledge and confess your sins, God will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Have a blessed week! – from Taipei, Pastor Sam