The cities are smoldering because of their great sin. And I’m hovering over a verse that prompts me to reflect on a great Savior.

Back story . . . the Lord appears again to Abraham in Genesis 18 and gives him and Sarah their “one year warning” that a baby’s on the way. Get the nursery ready! Then, in sort of a side bar conversation (a side bar with significant consequence), the Lord informs Abraham that there’s trouble (great understatement) brewing in Sodom and Gomorrah and because “their sin is very grave” He is about to bring judgment on those places (Gen. 18:16-21).

Oh yeah, one more thing to note. Abraham’s nephew, Lot, lives in Sodom.

So, the Lord dispatches two angels to evaluate and confirm the veracity of the great “outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah.” Meanwhile, Abraham, still in the Lord’s presence, made a bold move and he “drew near”. Bolder yet, he spoke to the Lord.

“Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will You then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

(Genesis 18:23-25 ESV)

And God listens to Abraham’s intercession and promises to “spare the whole place” for the sake of fifty righteous, should they be found. As He does so again when Abraham intercedes if there’s but forty-five righteous, or forty, or thirty, or twenty, and yes, even if there’s just ten (Gen. 18:26-33).

But there isn’t ten. And so Sodom and Gomorrah are toast — literally! Yet, Lot and his daughters are spared. And it’s the “why” of that “what” that I’m chewing on this morning.

So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

(Genesis 19:29 ESV)

God remembered Abraham. Thus, God saved Lot out of the midst.

For the sake of another, God saved a sinner. Because of the intercession of another, God showed unmerited favor to one who had settled for a world of wickedness. Because God remembered Abraham, God rescued and redeemed Lot.

Hmm . . . sound familiar? Does to me.

Jesus is the greater Abraham. And I was the lost Lot who had settled for a world destined for fire (2Peter 3:7).

But, because a ransom was paid at a place called Golgotha, and because a righteousness was imputed through a Son’s holy nature, and because an Intercessor interceded on my behalf “to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Php. 2:8), I too, like Lot, “found favor” as God showed me “great kindness in saving my life” (Gen. 19:19). For, like Abraham, even when on the cross, Jesus drew near to the Father and cried out for those destined to be caught up in destruction.

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

(Luke 23:34 ESV)

And God remembered Jesus. Thus, God saved Pete. Praise God!

Moreover, praise God that it’s not a one-and-done thing. My Savior continues to intercede so that those rescued from judgment might be saved “to the uttermost” (Heb. 7:25). For, if we confess our sins, His blood remains sufficient to “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn. 1:9). And, if we walk by the Spirit and sow to the Spirit, we will “from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal. 5:16, 6:8).

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

By His grace. For His glory.