March 16, 2017 - - Hebrews 12:21-25 "Brilliance, death and warning."
/But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven,
Hebrews 12:22-25 ESV
Stephen Hawking was credited as having the highest IQ of our time. He was brilliant and able to cross freely back and forth from academia to pop culture. He made pronouncements on the need for people to be united and unified...but he had no basis for this call to unity. He did not think there was an afterlife and rather than trust in the Living God, he put his faith in humanity. It is tragic. It is the way of one who is wise in the ways of the world and foolish in the sight of God.
The Bible clearly teaches the God Who created the heavens and the earth has appointed the Judge of All. While we live we are called to yield to God and submit ourselves to Him. Our standard against which we measure of our life is not a person we can pick. The measure of our life is taken against the standard of Jesus Christ, the perfect One.
The Father has given us Jesus, the One Who was punished in our place for our sins. Because Jesus was without sin, He alone is the sacrifice that takes away the sins of the world. Those who refuse to acknowledge their sin and their need for Jesus as Saviour in this life will find at the end of time that Jesus is the Judge Who has the right to cast the unbelieving into the eternal fires of hell.
Death, of famous persons, unknown persons, or of our own family members, is the warning from heaven that our lives are not our own. We will, at the end of our lives, give account to God for our actions, our every word and thought. Today is the day of warning, today is the day to seek God while He may yet be found. Talk to a Christian whose walk with God you admire and learn how to follow Jesus. Read the bible and pray.
If this is intriguing you, it is the Spirit of God Himself Who is prompting you to seek God, the very God Who is ready to receive the mightiest and the weakest--any person who cries out to Him.
God, Source of all Truth and Wisdom, thank You for scholars and those who can probe deep mysteries. Judge of All, give to our scientists and biologists, our chemists and geologists, all our scholars, the profound awareness that whatever they study, they are in fact learning from You and about You and Your creation. As they read the book of creation, may they be drawn to know Jesus Christ, the perfect revelation of knowledge and truth and understanding. May the Word of God show the most excellent mysteries worthy of many life-times of examination and study. To You alone, O God, be the glory and praise, the honour and renown forever and ever. Amen.
