We all have a mirror but we may not all have a telescope. But we certainly know the difference between them.
We use a mirror when we want to get dressed and make sure that everything is in its proper place. We use a mirror when we really want to take a closer look at ourselves – our face, our hair, or any blemishes we might want to find on ourselves.
A telescope of course is useless to us if want to look at ourselves, but instead this instrument is how we look at the farthest stars in the solar system. Lights that appear as spots become much more visible and vibrant when we look through the telescope into the grandeur of the heavens.
At our teaching team meeting this week one of the members said that as he is studying and reading Romans it feels to him like looking in a mirror. I thought this was a great visual of one significant aspect of how to understand the message of this part of God’s Word. But I would also add that it allows us to not only look at ourselves with a greater depth of understanding, but it allows us to look through a telescope of what God is doing out there in all of His creation. It helps us understand the big picture. We need both a mirror and a telescope.
This coming Sunday September 17th we will be bearing down on Romans 1:16-32. This passage will force us to use a mirror as well as a telescope. This passage is one of the harshest sections in all of the Bible. It is honestly jumped over frequently because it is so harsh – it tells it like it is – it lays out what many theologians of past have titled “The total depravity of man.” We don’t come out looking well when we examine ourselves with this mirror. But if we don’t look at this, then I will tell you that we will NEVER understand the true Gospel message. And if we don’t look carefully at the truth of ourselves and the destructive part that I play in this, then we will never be able to marvel at the full Gospel and how far the Gospel will reach.
As you prepare for Sunday, please read this passage for yourself and meditate on it – Romans 1:16-32.
By the way, how are you doing on your assignment to write out the book of Romans this year? You should be writing out for yourself by hand Romans 1:1-17.
Be ready to use God’s Word as a mirror into your life, and the telescope to see what God is doing. See you Sunday morning.
