Recently, I heard a quote from a preacher who lived in the 1800s. His name was Charles Spurgeon. He loved the Bible and preached thousands of sermons from it. But more importantly, he loved the God of the Bible and believed in Him.
I heard a quote about the Sun. Charles Spurgeon believed it was a significant part of God’s incredible creation.
It is an incredible fact that the Sun, which our planet orbits, is 15 million degrees Celsius at its core and a mere 5,500 degrees Celsius at its surface. This vast, enormous ball of glowing gas produces more energy in 1.5 millionths of a second than all 7 billion humans will use in one year. Yet when we consider our planet, the poles are frozen, and the equator is almost too hot to live on, but we live on bands of the earth with the right temperature for life. If our planet was closer to the Sun, we would all burn up; if we were further away, we would all freeze. God has placed the world in precisely the right position for life.
It is fascinating to me that although the Sun dwarfs our earth’s moon in size when we have the privilege of seeing a total eclipse, the moon seems to be the exact same size as the Sun. We know that it is because of the distance that the moon and Sun are from the Earth that they appear the same size, but it is a wonderfully fascinating fact that cannot be a glorious accident. I believe that God is showing to those who will see the evidence of His hand in creation.
In John 3:16, God declares that He loves the world. Here, He is referring to us, the people of the world. He loves us despite our disobedience, rebellion, and sin.
In fact, the verse goes on to tell us that He gave a remarkable gift to declare His love: His own perfect Son, Jesus Christ.
The verse invites everyone to believe in Him and what He did on the cross at Calvary. What exactly did He do? He died, taking the punishment that you and I deserve.
We are then told that if we believe, we will not perish. Here, we are told that we will perish eternally because of our sins if we do not believe.
The prophet Ezekiel clearly states that God has no pleasure in the destruction of sinners but wills that all would turn to Him. He has proved His love in the great gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, and by accepting this gift by believing in Him, we can have everlasting life with Him in Heaven.
So, ultimately, it is all down to us. What will our decision be? How will we respond to God’s love?
The quote from Charles Spurgeon said, ‘The same Sun which melts wax hardens clay. And the same Gospel which melts some persons to repentance hardens others in their sins.’
So, hearing of God’s love should cause a reaction in us. We can either harden our hearts and reject the greatest love that has ever been demonstrated, or we can melt, overwhelmed by its greatness.
How sad it would be to hear of the greatest love and not to know it because we become hardened to it. How wonderful it is to see someone ‘melt’ accepting that God loves them, and Christ died for them and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour!
DAILY MESSAGES WITH MEANING (04/09/24)
Written by STUART SCAMMELL
All photos courtesy of Unsplash
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