The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Joel 3:21,
"Their bloodguilt, which I have not pardoned, I will pardon."
High on God's agenda is his desire and willingness to forgive mankind of their sins. When Moses asked the Lord to reveal himself to him, the Lord said, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin." Exodus 34:6-7.
In that passage he made clear it would not, however, be at the expense of his finely-tuned sense of justice. He went on to tell Moses, "Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished..." How does he do this? In God's economy, payment for sin is "fungible", a substitute payment may be made. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for our sins on our behalf. When Jesus died on the cross he made payment for all the sins of all mankind for all time. What unlocks this payment to be credited to our account with God is faith. When we place our faith in God, he credits us with a right standing with him.
In speaking of Abraham, Paul said, "Yet he [Abraham] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why 'it was credited to him as righteousness.' The words 'was credited to him' were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness— for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." Romans 4:20-25.
Why would God provide payment for our sins? Why would he pardon, forgive? I like the way John answers this question. He says, "God is love." 1 John 4:8. In the following two verses he explains how God has manifested this great love of his for us, "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
We often think of life after death as "the after-life". While an understandable phrase it is a very misleading one. Life after death is eternal. Life after death, for those who are God's children, will be fullness of life, lived in the very presence of our Creator. It will be life lived to the fullest, life with ultimate purpose and fulfillment. It will be life that God has designed us for.
Life here, "under the sun" (as Solomon put it), is transitional. It is temporary. Compared to eternity it is just a "blip". It is often lived in trouble, hardship and despair. It is experience in an environment of sin and futility. What this life is, in the eternal scheme of things, is simply, and only, the nursery from which God is populating his kingdom. It is God's desire that we be fruitful and multiply. From this, he seeks to harvest for himself sons and daughters, all those who will have him, those who will embrace him in faith. This is why he has cloaked himself as far as he has - that faith may be provided opportunity.
No, life after death is not "the after-life". Life after death is real life, genuine life, life that God has for us. Rather, this life should be construed as "pre-life" or "before-life".
God has made provision for the forgiveness of sin, that he may pardon us. He has done this out of his great love for us as he seeks to populate his kingdom, a kingdom he populates with all who will embrace him in faith.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment