Sinners in the hands of a compassionate God part 1

The constant theme of our Lord’s life was his “onement” with His Father.  This claim of being one with God both set Him apart from many other prophets of His day and eventually secured His death at the hands of murderous sinners.

Here’s a little snack: The 8th chapter of John’s Gospel allows us a universal look into the heart and purpose of God in the flesh.  The social network of Jesus broke both generational and geographical boundaries in this one chapter.

In its induction, we see a prostitute receiving forgiveness of sins.  At its conclusion we find Jesus categorizing the genealogy of men as he tells these Jews, “Ye are of [your] father the devil…” in verse 44.  Both of these actions resulted in men taking up stones to kill the Son of God.

In this 8th chapter we see how Christ dealt with sin and sinners.  Most certainly this is the pattern for Christians to follow as we are given authority to deal boldly with those around us, both sinners and saints.

Have you ever been placed in an awkward position due to the immorality or lack of Christian ethics on the part of fellow believers?  If so, you know the feeling of not know what to say- or whether to say anything at all.  Following Christ’s example in the case of this woman caught in adultery allows us to deal with this awkwardness with victory.

This will be the theme of this week’s snacks.