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I love flying. When I’m going on vacation, there’s something exciting about going to the airport, checking-in, going through passport control and security, waiting at the gate, boarding, and then settling down for the flight with in-flight service, entertainment, some sleep (hopefully), and the prospect of arriving somewhere special. But one of the most exciting moments is when the plane hurtles down the runway and then leaves the ground as it takes off and heads off into the sky. It is amazing to think that a machine weighing tons can do this. What an awesome sense of power.

Romans 1:16-17 says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”

We rightly think of the Gospel as God’s love for a lost world, for sinners like you and me. Yes, God loves us and sends Jesus, his Son, as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Here in Romans 1, though, the Apostle Paul says the Gospel is God’s power of salvation; it is God’s way of dealing with us according to who God is in himself.

What Paul means is that God cannot forgive us in a way that would compromise his perfect character. He cannot just say, “I forgive you.” Just saying “I forgive you” may let us off our sin, but it doesn’t change the fact that we are still sinners – we still committed the sin. For God to be righteous in himself, we must be transformed – we must become righteous. This is what happens at the cross. In the words of 2 Corinthians 5:21, God made him – Jesus – who is without sin to become sin for us so that in him – Jesus – we become the righteousness of God.

Now this is amazing! It’s not that we are just forgiven of our sin, we are declared righteous in God’s sight through faith in Jesus’ shed blood for us. This is God’s power. The power to change us because of Christ’s sacrifice. This is the Gospel – the power of God’s salvation.

Planes display awesome power. But how much greater is God’s righteousness – the power of the Gospel to redeem us, forgive us, transform us, and declare us righteous in God’s sight. Isn’t this reason to praise God?

視頻大意翻譯(video Chinese translation):

大家早。

今天我在接近溫哥華機場的地方。

我喜愛飛行。去渡假時，去機場、報到、安全檢查、閘門口等飛機、登機、然後坐定在機艙內等機艙內服務、機上娛樂、睡覺(希望可以)、然後等著到達特別的目的地。但最令人興奮的時刻可能是飛機在跑道上奔馳及飛奔向天空的那霎那。很令人驚奇一個重達上噸的機器能做得到。多麼令人敬畏的力量啊!

羅馬書1:16-17” 我不以福音為恥．這福音本是　神的大能、要救一切相信的、先是猶太人、後是希利尼人。因為　神的義、正在這福音上顯明出來．這義是本於信、以致於信．如經上所記、『義人必因信得生。』”

我們正確的覺得福音是神給這失喪世界的愛，就如你和我這般的罪人。是的，神因愛我們，派遣了他的愛子耶穌作為我們罪的贖價。在羅馬書一章，使徒保羅說福音是神救贖的大能，這是神根據自己的身分來對待我們的方式。保羅的意思是神不能以損害他完美品格的方式來原諒我們。他不能只是說”我原諒你”，單單說”我原諒你”可能讓我們脫離我們的罪，但不能改變我們仍是罪人的事實，我們仍然犯了罪。神是公義的，我們被須被改變-我們必須成為公義的。這就是在十字架上發生的事。哥林多後書5:21，神使他-耶穌-那無罪的、替我們成為罪．透過耶穌為我們流的血，叫我們在他裏面成為公義的。這是神的大能。因著基督的犧牲，這大能能改變我們。這就是福音-神救贖的大能。

飛機展現了令人敬畏的能力，但神的公義比這更偉大-這福音的大能救贖我們、赦免我們、改變我們、並宣告我們在神眼中是公義的。不應為這原因讚美神嗎?

讓我們一起禱告。

Grace and peace

Pastor Callum