“For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 3:22-23 and 6:23, NKJV
Much is talked about, heard, and debated today having to do with the topic of equality. If you read a newspaper or listen to a news station, the subject of “equality” is addressed in just about every forum in the United States and the world at large. Women’s equality, gender equality, income equality and the list go on and on. The latest hot topic streaming across the landscape is equality in education. After testing on a large scale, it is discovered that for some odd reason, our young students in K-12th grades are no longer able to read at the same levels as in past generations. In many school districts around the country, the cry for help from the students and parents has been addressed by our educational institutions to simply lower the expectations, rather than challenge both teachers and students alike to work harder. But I digress…
God is the Ultimate Equalizer! God sees all of us, the entire cast of humanity as “sinners.” For anyone espousing equality, you may find comfort in knowing your condition is universal. Or put another way, “Misery likes company.” However, finding solace in the resulting consequence of our shared sinful condition is less comforting, because God also tells us that “the wages of sin is death.” Unlike the worldly “experts” seeking a solution for our human deficiencies, our Creator LORD did not lower His standard of expectation, rather He provided a Substitute to take our place on His “grading scale.” Jesus Christ, God’s only sinless Son, fulfilled His Father’s mandate on the cross by sacrificing His life for yours and mine and everyone who will but believe and receive His amazing gift. The rest of the Bible verse in the Book of Romans 3:24 explains that we are “justified freely by [God’s] grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” And the rest of verse 23 in Romans chapter 6 says “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The cross of salvation is our payment for sin and sets the sinner apart from all others. I pray you and I find comfort not in knowing we are one in a sea of sinners, rather in the knowledge that we are rescued by Jesus for eternal life that begins today.
Friend, if you have not invited Jesus into your life, ask Him now; He is always listening and waiting to save us from our otherwise terminal condition.