When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said,
“The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
Judges 6:12
Two houses. Similar in size. Both ranch style, three bedroom and two bath.
One in Newport Beach, California and the other in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
Their prices: $1,069,000 and 69,900, respectively. That’s $599 per square foot versus $43 per squae foot!
An inventory list of how many 2 x 4’s, windows, doors, and shingles would be needed to duplicate each house would most likely be about the same.
The value has more to do with location: one is declared to be more valuable because of where it is.
We are all fixer-uppers. We are all in need of some changing out and some updating. And it is our location at the foot of the cross that has us declared righteous.
In our text this week Gideon’s location was a winepress. That’s not the typical place for threshing grain. He was hiding out — finding a creative place to be safe from the marauding Midianites. Though his location suggested a posture of fear, God declared him to be more than a coward. God declared him to be “mighty warrior.” Gideon may have found a hidey hole to try and escape detection from the enemy but God declares him not a weenie but a warrior!
You and I may not feel righteous. We may not always behave like women of God, but if our identity is in Christ, that’s exactly what we are. Our location at the foot of the cross means we sinners are declared righteous.
Our location at the cross changes everything!
We who know we are unworthy are declared worthy because of Jesus. We are declared righteous. We are made righteous in Christ. In Romans 3, Paul reminds us:
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
and all are justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
We are justified – we are declared righteous – in Christ. The cross changes everything.
The woman of God is declared righteous in Christ.
Maybe the world looked at Gideon and saw a coward, but God saw in him a mighty warrior. And when God looks at you, He sees what the world may not see.
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You can hear the audio for this week’s teaching here:
http://fbcsiloam.podbean.com/e/the-book-of-judges-lesson-2-laura-macfarlan/
