And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. Romans 5:9 (NLT)
Tornadoes recently tore through parts of the Midwest, and a family from Virginia was touring the Noah’s Ark experience in Kentucky at that time. The full-size ark matches the dimensions the Bible cites: 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high. Although the ark replica is covered in wood, its superstructure is made of steel and concrete, and as the father of the family said, “It’s not going anywhere.”
So, when the tornado warnings sounded, everyone on the grounds went to the stairwells inside the ark, which double as emergency shelters. “Seeking shelter inside the ark” seemed fitting, since the original ark was a shelter for Noah and his family when floodwaters destroyed the earth due to human wickedness (Gen. 6:9-22).
As we approach Easter, have you thought of the Cross as a kind of “Emergency Shelter”?
God is loving, yes, yet God is also holy. The Bible says God took the wrath that should have gone to sinful humans but instead poured it out on Jesus on the Cross. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21 NIV). “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:9 ESV).
When you put your faith in Christ and confess your sins to Him, it doesn’t mean you’ll never again make any mistakes. But it does mean God will forgive your sins. And when He looks at you, He doesn’t see your failures, but if you are cleansed by the Blood of Christ, God sees the righteousness of Christ covering you!
Have you fled to the Cross of Christ, as to a shelter during an emergency?
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.
Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law’s demands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath,
when mine eyes shall close in death,
when I soar to worlds unknown,
see thee on thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee.
Rock of Ages, Augustus Toplady
S.D.G./S.G.D.
