Saturday after Ad te levavi, The First Sunday in Advent
Posted on December 9, 2023 by under
Scripture: Romans 1:16-20 (NKJV)
1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
Devotion
Nowadays, the world tries to draw us away from the faith by making us feel ashamed for what we believe. They ridicule us for putting our faith in the God of our Salvation. Really, they ought to be ashamed for closing their eyes and covering their ears to the truth that not only does our God exist, but that He is the God of all creation. He has demonstrated His power and Godhead to all people from the very existence of the world.
On the day when Christ judges the world, they will have no excuse for their unbelief, and they will be the ones who will feel ashamed for their spiritual ignorance. But we who have been brought to the knowledge of the truth should never feel ashamed of our Lord, because He is not only the God of creation, but the God of salvation. He has redeemed us by His Son, our Savior. By the powerful Gospel He has brought us to justifying faith. Let us grow ever-more bold in our proclamation of that Gospel, and give thanks to our loving Savior that He was born in Bethlehem to save us from our sins and to deliver us from the corruption of this fallen world.
Collect: Stir up, we beseech Thee, Thy power, O Lord, and come, that by Thy protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins, and saved by Thy mighty deliverance; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
