the life you were born to give

Thomas Nelson

Contents

Acknowledgments...............................................ixForeword by Zig Ziglar........................................xiIntroduction: Your Life Is a Gift.............................1part 1: a life delivered (romans 1-11)........................51. A Global System Failure....................................72. The Ultimate Injustice.....................................123. Restart for New Life.......................................194. The Firewall of God's Love.................................275. Time to Rethink Everything.................................33part 2: a life devoted (romans 12:1-2)........................396. A Change of Heart..........................................417. A Change of Mind...........................................488. A Change of Will...........................................54part 3: a life distributed (romans 12-16).....................639. We Are Gifted to Serve.....................................6510. We Are Lifted to Love.....................................7511. We Are Shaped by Experiences..............................8612. We Are Called to Influence................................9613. We Are Entrusted to Invest................................10814. We Are Tested by Time.....................................12015. We Are Liberated to Live Responsibly......................13716. We Are Strengthened to Encourage..........................15017. We Are Blessed to Be a Blessing...........................161Study Guide...................................................169Notes.........................................................175

Chapter One

The words System Failure jumped off the cover in bold, neon yellow letters as I thumbed through an array of weekly newsmagazines. I pulled the September 19, 2005, issue of Time from the disorderly stack to examine the cover more closely.

The picture depicted the "crash and burn" of a computer shutdown. However, the cover story was not about computers; it was an investigation into the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina. Photo after photo, tragic scenes were displayed. One by one, people in positions of responsibility were assessed. And page by page, the shame of the fallout was told.

Without a doubt, Katrina not only ravaged the Gulf Coast; it rocked America. Yet for all the physical devastation caused by the massive hurricane, the greatest destruction was the tragic aftermath, which revealed the ugly truth about human nature.

In a special message he preached to his church just weeks after Katrina, Max Lucado aptly describes the scene: "We saw humanity at its best. And we saw humanity at its worst.... We are a people of both dignity and depravity. The hurricane blew back more than roofs; it blew the mask off the nature of mankind. The main problem in the world is not Mother Nature, but human nature. Strip away police barricades, blow down the fences, and the real self is revealed. We are barbaric to the core."

Failed expectations. Abuses of power. Undelivered promises. Disrespect for others. Disregard for the law. Every page of the Time article revealed the storm and fury lurking in the heart of every man and woman. And what was revealed in the aftermath of Katrina is what the Bible depicts in the aftermath of Adam and Eve.

The Tragedy in the Garden

The story of beginnings, which we read in Genesis, tells of the wonder, honor, and glory of God's creative work on earth. But only three chapters into this story, we read of the devastation caused by a single event that transformed the glory of creation into the shame of human rebellion. It is what theologians refer to as the Fall.

Just days after Hurricane Katrina hit the Louisiana coast, Al Mohler observed that the origins of sin and destruction could be traced all the way back to the book of Genesis. In his daily weblog, he writes, "Genesis three tells the story of the Fall, a story that centers in the volitional, willful act of Adam and Eve to break the command of God, and to do that which the Lord had forbidden. Giving themselves to temptation, they rationalized their desires, justified their action in their own eyes, and ate the fruit that was forbidden them." He goes on to say, "When humans sinned, not only did it affect Adam and Eve and their descendants, but the earth-the cosmos itself-was corrupted."

And so declares the apostle Paul in the book of Romans. The opening chapters of Romans reveal a dark, distasteful, and direct condemnation of mankind in the wake of the storm of sin. The tragedy that occurred in the Garden of Eden resulted in the fallen condition of creation and the complete corruption of the human race.

No One Is Exempt

In Romans 1, Paul describes this global system failure. He declares that the devastating consequences of sin affect the whole world and everyone in it. None can escape the responsibility and results of this global shutdown. No nation. No city. No family. No person.

The Time magazine article called four government officials into account for their actions in response to Hurricane Katrina. But Paul calls every person in this world into account when he says, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 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" (Rom. 1:18-20).

And in case we think that somehow we are exempt from this corruption, Paul makes it clear that God's condemnation applies to every member of the human race: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).

The fallen state of humanity is the result of a total system failure that had global consequences and personal responsibility. Sin has marred God's design. Sin has captured man's will. Sin has brought judgment upon us all. This is the primary assessment and condition of every culture, of every race, of every person on the planet: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

To fall short means to fail to meet the standard, to fail to attain the goal, to fail to achieve the function for which it was created. Sin has caused a global system failure, and we all need to be delivered from the corrupting power and penalty of this system if we are ever going to truly live the life we were born to give.

Our Only Hope

Life without God is the antithesis of everything we are made for. Therefore, all we have to do is review the assessment of human behavior to understand why our only hope in the aftermath of the Fall is deliverance.

Dr. H. L. Willmington, in his excellent Guide to the Bible, describes a scene and presents a "court record" of offenses between "the Supreme Creator of the Universe versus His Sinful Creatures." At the bench of justice, we all stand guilty as charged in the Supreme Court of heaven.

Dr. Willmington outlines ten charges presented in a detailed indictment against the human race in Romans 1. God's fierce wrath is revealed against all...