Title: Lessons from Crisis /Genesis 18:16-33
Content One of the characteristics of modern people is that they know a lot, but they live in this world without knowing what they really need to know. I know a lot about modern science and technology and art. But when adversity and trials come, we do not know how to overcome them and succeed in life. So, when they try to overcome adversity with their own abilities, they fail and become frustrated. But adversity and trials are not all negative. There are risks, but also opportunities. It means that if we overcome the crisis well, it will be a good opportunity to move toward a better world. In this sense, a crisis can be an opportunity for blessing.
Think about it. When Abraham heard these words of God, his vision was dark.
I did. Because in Sodom and Gomorrah lived his beloved nephew Lot. However, Abraham faced a crisis in this desperate environment and did not despair while listening to God's desperate proclamation. He came before God and began to pray earnestly. This is the attitude of a Christian in the face of crisis.
In verses 23 to 32, the phrase "Abraham drew near before the LORD God, and said," appears several times. Whenever Abraham faced a crisis, he prayed before God. There is a saying that 'man's worst is God's opportunity'. what do you mean? It means that the crisis of life makes the saints hold on to God and pray, and the prayers of the saints make God work. What is special about Abraham is the importance of Abraham's prayer in that he prayed earnestly, a great prayer that could more than offset the crisis rather than the crisis he was facing.
Whatever difficulties and pains there may be, as long as you have a solution to overcome them, it is no longer a problem. In this respect, the problem is not the problem, but whether to pray or not. Without prayer, the end of life is the end, but when there is prayer, the end of life becomes a gateway to another new beginning. Jonah prayed in the belly of the fish. Where is Jonah's greatness? It was Jonah's greatness to cry out to God in the midst of an irreversible and difficult crisis.
Why do believers need to pray without becoming discouraged when they face such a crisis? It is because we believe that prayers always have answers. Look at Psalm 17:6. "I cried out to me, O God, that you would answer me. Give ear and hear me." Confessions of the psalmist David. God always answers the prayers of the saints. When we pray, God's answers will surely come to us.
You need to know the facts.
So how should we pray? We must pray based on God's righteousness. If you look at verses 23 to 32, you can see that the word “righteous” appears seven times. The word righteous means a person who is morally righteous. In other words, to acquit the guilty person. Thousands of years ago, in Israel and the Middle East, in order for a sinner to be forgiven, he or she had to pay the penalty for that person's sins in order to be found innocent.
Look at John 8:11. Jesus asked a woman caught in adultery. "Where are those who condemned you? There is none, Lord. I do not condemn you either; go and sin no more." Jesus did not acknowledge the sin of the woman who was caught in adultery and deserved to die, nor did he condemn it as a sin. This is the way to become righteous. Why? Because Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross for us. Therefore, according to Ephesians 2:13-16, "You who were once far away are now brought near by the blood of Christ Jesus. He is our peace, who made the two into one, breaking down the middle wall and breaking down the wall of enmity, the place of enmity. has abolished in his own flesh the law of the commandments belonging to Therefore, in Romans 5:9, Paul says again. “Now we are justified by his blood.” Philippians 3:9 says, “The grace I have is not from the law, but through faith in Christ, which is what is called the righteousness from God by faith.”
Putting all these words together, we are sinners who deserve to die for our sins, but Jesus came and died on the cross for our sins in our place, so our sins were atoned for. This is called the ransom. Now Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us, His blood
By virtue of our merits, we are made righteous from sinners. You did not become righteous because you were morally clean. You do not become righteous because you are ethically clean. It is not that we are made righteous without sin. It is through the merits of the blood of Jesus Christ that we have been forgiven, washed, and justified. Therefore, the cross of Jesus Christ came to serve as a bridge between God and us humans. That is what we pray for based on that righteousness. So how can we pray? What kind of prayer is a true prayer? Prayers that are prayed through the righteousness of Jesus Christ are true prayers and prayers with correct answers.
To say the righteousness of Jesus Christ is to speak the name of Jesus Christ. It means that we pray for the merits of the blood of the Lord, who justified us by shed His precious blood on the cross for us. In today's text, 'If there are only ten righteous people,' Abraham said that the righteous who claim to be righteous are sinners, but he is referring to the righteous who have been saved through Christ, the Son of God. If you pray, you prosper; if you don't, you will perish. This is the principle of faith. I bless you in the name of the Lord that you pray a lot.