God’s PLAN of SALVATION is ‘CRITICAL’ for EVERYONE!
January 7
Bible Reading: Genesis Chapters 19-21
God’s PLAN of SALVATION is ‘CRITICAL’ for EVERYONE!
Then the men said to Lot, "Have you
anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have
in the city--take them out of this place! For
we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great
before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it."
So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters,
and said, "Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this
city!" But to his sons-in-law he
seemed to be joking. (Gen 19:12-14)
When God
called Abraham to leave his ancestral family and country to an unknown place,
his brother’s son Lot accompanied him on his journey (Gen. 12:5; 13:1).
However, they parted ways soon after they realized that it had become difficult
to live together (13:5-7). Lot chose the plain of Jordan, and pitched his tent
at Sodom (13:10-12). However, the people of Sodom were “exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord” (13:13), and the righteous Lot was tormented day and
night seeing the filthy conduct of the wicked people in Sodom (2 Peter 2:7-8).
It was not
long before God decided to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with fire
and brimstone as the sins of the people were too much for Him to bear (18:20),
and He decided to check it out by Himself (18:21). Due to the pleadings from
Abraham, God agreed that if ten righteous
people were in Sodom He would not destroy
that city (18:32). God sent two of His angels to Sodom and Lot, who was sitting
in the gate of that city, received them into his house (19:1). Sadly, the men
of Sodom displayed their carnality towards the two angels (19:4-5), and that
hastened God’s decision to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (19:13). His plan of
salvation was that anyone who could
get out of the city would be spared from death (19:12).
Lot tried to
convince his own two sons-in-law to flee the city of Sodom, but they felt that
he was joking (19:14b) and did not
leave the city. Not long before, God rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and
Gomorrah, and destroyed both the cities completely (19:24-25). Lot’s wife
became a pillar of salt because she looked back (19:26) disobeying God’s specific directive not to look behind (19:17). Everyone
was killed in Sodom and Gomorrah, except Lot and his two daughters!
Let us
remember that God did not spare the angels who sinned (2 Peter 2:4), nor the
ancient world during Noah’s time who rejected God’s plan of salvation through
the ark (v. 5) and turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes making them an example for the people who
live ungodly lives (v. 6). God has a plan of salvation for us through His
Son Jesus Christ who died on the cross and took our punishment instead of us!
This plan is ‘critical’, and everyone
should accept this plan to escape God’s judgment reserved upon this world. Have you accepted God’s plan of salvation in
your life?
