Assassin turned Saint!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
2 cor. 5:17
Introduction.
Is there anything too hard for God to do? God can change a person’s heart if they are willing. The Apostle Paul was a willing man to do God’s will.
I think it’s quite ironic I worked so long in law enforcement that now I’m working in prisons teaching to the same type of people that I took into custody. And working in law enforcement can make one very hard and jaded. I used to think people in jail did not deserve a chance to turn their lives around. I know that God has giving me this opportunity see those who are incarcerated in a different light.
This was the transformation of the apostle Paul from darkness to light. If you remember Paul was in charge of persecuting and killing Christians. After his conversion to Christianity he became one of the most important apostles in the New Testament.
Paul could now understand the frailty of human nature which blinded him previously by his own pride. He could now see his own shortcomings and sin, that separated him from God the Father.
You see to God sin is sin. The consequences here on earth for our sins differ drastically. It can be from a slap on the hand as a child for lying or stealing or going to prison as an adult for something worse.
I think when we can truly understand our own sinfulness before a holy God, we are less likely to judge others for what they have done. We should look at them with eternal eyes of what they may become once transformed by the power of God.
God looked at Paul who was an assassin with eternal eyes. God knew that Paul would become one of the most important individuals in the New Testament church. That is what looking at people with eternal eyes means. Many are bound by past sins and shortcomings. Some think there’s no way out. They think they’re too far gone for God to help.
Paul learned not look to at his past but look towards his high calling that he received in Christ Jesus. Paul understood that Gods eternal eyes are mercy in action. Can you see the same?