Saturday, August 15, 2015

Samson, Jesus, and the Grace of God

"0And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life." (Judges 16: 30)

In traditional Christianity, preachers teach about Samson from the perspective of a man who could have done great things, but failed in key points and thus ended his life as a great disappointment.

The Bible could not be clearer, and the traditional assertion could not be further from the truth.

In spite of his dalliances with Delilah, and thus the loss of his power to slay Philistines, Samson rested in the Lord, and his hair and dependence on Him was restored.

He was not afraid to give Himself to slay the enemies of Israrel, and he killed more than all that He had done in his lifetime.

In the same way, Jesus went about healing and doing good for Israel (Acts 10:38), yet all that He did during His earthly ministry would mean nothing without His death on the Cross.

At the Cross, Jesus defeated sin, Satan, death, hell, and restored to us greater glory than Adam's status before God in the Garden of Eden.

The grace of God was fully manifested at the Cross, and today we are invited to learn more about what Jesus did for us at the Cross (2 Peter 3: 18), and what He is doing for us today as our mercy seat (1 John 2: 1-2) and His new forever priesthood (Hebrews 4: 16).

Despite Samson's sin, the grace of God superabounded in his life, and he accomplished more for God at the end of his life than throughout his life.

Today, because of Jesus, sin no longer has any power, and even when we sin, we can rest assured that the grace of God will superabound in our situation, and teach us to walk by faith, grow in grace, and live godly lives in Christ (Titus 2: 11-14)

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