Not Ashamed - and Rightly So!

Scheduled Reading (Click here)
for Sunday, August 15, 2010
Ezra 10:1-Nehemiah 1:11; Psalm 98:8-99:4; Proverbs 20:15-16; Romans 1:16-32

Selected Passage:
 Romans 1:16 -
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes

Yesterday we explored how we are not ashamed of our sin, but we should be. Today Paul exclaims that he is not ashamed of the Gospel. Today I have the privilege of preaching at our church about Sharing Boldly. Sharing our story of what Christ has done for us is certainly a story worth sharing and most definitely one for which I am not ashamed. I believe we would be shouting it from the rooftops if we truly understood  both the price paid for our salvation and the sheer horror of that from which we have been rescued.

We are fairly familiar with graphic descriptions of the crucifixion. Many have seen Mel Gibson's - The Passion of the Chirst. I can never get over the horror of what Jesus went through for me. I hope I never do. And sure, we know that hell awaits those who do not believe. Jesus described it as a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. But what is it realy? We can never truly understand. But the worst part of it.... more than the heat and suffering... the worst part of it, I believe, is the fact that we will be separated from the Creator - for ever.

This was a thought too horrible for God to even finish speaking in Genesis 3:22-24. Read it in the link provided. See for yourself. Please, really do it. Now. He doesn't finish the sentence in verse 23. Other versions dress it up a bit and try to make it a complete statement. Not so in the Hebrew. The thought is too horrible to speak - that man should live forever separated from the God Who loves him.

So, no. I am not ashamed of the Good News! It is the greatest love story ever told. I'll tell to anyone who is willing to listen - and then some!