Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 19:23-38.
And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the
plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the
overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt (Genesis 19:29).
Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father
(Genesis 19:36).
And delivered just Lot… (2 Peter 2:7). For that righteous man….
(2 Peter 2:8).
Genesis 19 is, at one and the same time, one of the greatest chapters
in the Bible demonstrating the righteous judgment of God in the destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah, and one of the greatest demonstrating his mercy in the
salvation of Lot.
Lot had a complicated history. He
had pitched his tent toward Sodom (13:12), dwelt in Sodom (14:12), and sat in
its gate (19:1). But he had also extended hospitality to the angelic visitors
which came to Sodom. He had seemed to obey the angels, but when told to leave
the wicked city on the eve of its destruction he had lingered (19:16). Still,
the LORD intervened, remembering Abraham’s intercession for his nephew, and brought
Lot “out of the overthrow” (v. 29).
The account of what happened later
in Genesis 19:30-38 is one of the most disturbing in Scripture, as Lot, in a
drunken stupor, commits incest with his daughters and fathers two sons who will
be the heads of two nations (Moab and the Ammonites respectively), which will be
a snare to the descendants of Abraham in years to come.
Given the sorry state
of things, how could be apostle Peter refer to Lot as “just [righteous] Lot”
and “that righteous man” (2 Peter 2:7-8)?
We must gather that
Lot was a believer. Like Abraham he was saved by grace through faith in Christ.
What Genesis 15:6 says of Abraham we can assume for Lot: He believed God and it
was credited to him as righteousness. If saved, he was granted the righteous
life of Christ. See:
1 Corinthians 5:2:1 For he [God] hath made him [Christ] to be sin for us
[elect believers], who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him.
That’s
how Sodom-dwelling, lingering, and even incestuous Lot could be called
righteous and that’s the only way any sinner can be called righteous in the
sight of a holy and righteous God.
The
Christian looks at Lot and asks not, “How was this man considered righteous?”, but
he looks within and asks, “How can I be called righteous?” How could adulterous
and murderous David be called righteous? Or church-persecuting Paul?
Do
you really think your sin is greater than the righteousness of Christ? It is
not. If you think it is, you have made your own sin a false god and worship at
a false idol.
Does
this mean it does not matter how we live? The apostle Paul raised this question
in Romans 6 when he asked, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound”
(v. 1)? He answered, “God forbid” (v. 2).
The authentic
believer experiences not only salvation through Christ, but also progressive
sanctification. This person grows in holiness, but he is made righteous only
the way Lot was, by the righteousness of Christ. As one has put it, When God
the Father looks at us, the Son (S-o-n) gets in his eyes. Praise be to God!
Grace
and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
No comments:
Post a Comment