We had power restored this morning as the PG&E telephone line had estimated. At 3pm was Auntie Ming's 80th birthday thanksgiving celebration at church. Auntie Ming is one of the founding members of our church, and has played a huge part in the life of our church through the many years she has been here.

During the celebration service, we had worship, her testimony, music performances, sharing, and a large dinner. Many people who used to be part of our church but moved away came back, even from other countries, to celebrate this occasion.

I was quite impressed with how much faith she has, and how eagerly she looks forward to being with her maker. It was amazing listening to her life story and seeing how God has directed her steps in using her for his purposes.

I got into two of the three upper division computer science classes in which I was waitlisted: Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence. Praise God. I'm still waitlisted for Databases, and my fourth class is literally up in the air. I have no idea what I want to take.

Devotion time notes:

Romans 5

In chapter 4, Paul argued that faith is the foundation of our justification, and now in this chapter, he speaks of what results from this faith and justification.

We have peace by the grace from God that we have access to through Christ. In other words, by having faith in Jesus, God's grace is upon us, and we have peace. This isn't just any peace (e.g. peace from war, oppression, etc...), but a peace with God that previously had not existed due to the sin found within us. A holy God cannot be at peace with guilty sinners, but justification through Christ takes away the guilt of our sin, and allows us to be at peace with a righteous and holy God.

As Christians, to what end do we strive for? It is not eternal existence, for we know that souls are eternal beings, and we will face eternity whether our endpoint is heaven or hell. Instead, what I need to learn to hope for daily is the glory of seeing the face of the God who created us, loves us, and redeemed us.

we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5:2

God's majestic beauty and splendor we cannot begin to fathom, so we wait in eager expectation for that day on which we will witness it personally. We're all naturally built to appreciate beauty, whether it's in the setting sun, the stars, sights of nature that take our breath away, or even grand firework displays at Disneyland. We're also apt to marvel at glory, whether it is seen in athletes, conquers like Alexander, or the artificial glory found in various entertainment industry leaders.

How much more will the glory of God leave us in awe on that day.

Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing ‘Hallelujah!’? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! Yeah! I can only imagine!
I Can Only Imagine

In "Shadow of the Almighty" whenever Jim Elliot mentions death, he instead writes, "Glory!". It's inspiring that he lived his days with this hope and expectation rather than the hopes of what this world can offer.

How are we to rejoice in this hope of the glory of God? Paul tells us that suffering leads to perseverance, perseverance leads to character, and character leads to hope. Therefore, we must rejoice in our sufferings if we are to rejoice in hope!

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8

It is interesting to note that when speaking of the results of justification by faith, Paul first mentions peace with God and the glory of seeing his face before dealing with the fact that this justification also saves us from the wrath of God that we were due. I think it's easy for me to dwell on this latter thing so much that the former things are unconsidered. Our Christianity should not be based on the selfish goal of saving ourselves from the fires of hell, for God is nowhere to be found in this self-centered picture. Instead, our faith should result from a desire to experience him and his glory; reconciliation with him. Being saved from the judgement we deserve is simply something that results from this reconciliation, and not the main purpose of why we believe.

If while we were enemies of God he sent his Son to lay down his life for us, how much more will he do for us now that we are reconciled to him through justification.

The latter half of this chapter deals with Christ's remedy for the sin that entered world through action, and how this remedy is surely sufficient for the sins of mankind.

If through the disobedience one man, Adam, all are condemned, how much more surely will all be saved through the obedience of one man, Jesus Christ, God's own Son? We can be assured of our salvation through Christ. His death was surely sufficient to save us from our sins.

If justification through faith is all that is necessary, of what use is the law? As my dad said the other day, the law is like a sign on a beach that warns, "Dangers. Sharks in the water." Everyone starts their life in the water, but they who notice and take heed the warning of the sign will take hold of the life preserver of faith. The sign is not what saves, but obedience to what the sign tells us is important nonetheless.