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 heart and mind in 2 Samuel 12:13,
"Nathan replied, "The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die."
How about that?! David commits the murder of Uriah and others with him (collateral damage in the effort to kill Uriah), and sleeps with his wife, impregnating her. After all that, when the Lord's prophet, Nathan, confronts David on the Lord's behalf, Nathan tells David, "The Lord has taken away your sin."
No problem? To be sure, there will be a reaping of what David sowed. The baby Bathsheba became pregnant with in the tryst with David will die. However, David is told the Lord will not otherwise hold this sin against David, "The Lord has taken away your sin."
Earlier, when Moses wanted the Lord to reveal himself to him, the Lord told Moses, "Yet he [the Lord] does not leave the guilty unpunished..." Exodus 34:7. So why does the Lord punish some for their sins, but not David?
The answer to that question resides in a fascinating look Paul provides of Jesus Christ. In Romans 3:25 he says, "God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."
When Nathan told David the Lord had taken away his sin, that didn't mean the sin David committed was not paid for. Paul explains that God the Father sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for all sins of all mankind for all time. This is why Jesus Christ died on that miserable cross. Forgiveness, the "taking away" of sin is appropriated when we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Peter makes this clear when he was given a vision that taught him, "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right." Acts 10:34-35.
No "teacher's pet" with God. Jesus Christ died for all people's sins for all time, whether committed before Jesus paid for them or at the end of this age. David was a great man of faith, recognized as one of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11.
David was no "teacher's pet" in regard to sin, but as a man who embraced the Lord in faith, not only his sin in the murder of Uriah and his adultery with Bathsheba was forgiven, all of his sins were forgiven. Just like you and me when we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Read what Jesus taught about this himself, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." John 3:16-18. If we fail to embrace Jesus Christ in this life, our sins condemn us for all eternity. If we embrace Jesus Christ in this life we will be freed from the penalty of our sins for all eternity.
"Nathan replied, "The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die."
How about that?! David commits the murder of Uriah and others with him (collateral damage in the effort to kill Uriah), and sleeps with his wife, impregnating her. After all that, when the Lord's prophet, Nathan, confronts David on the Lord's behalf, Nathan tells David, "The Lord has taken away your sin."
No problem? To be sure, there will be a reaping of what David sowed. The baby Bathsheba became pregnant with in the tryst with David will die. However, David is told the Lord will not otherwise hold this sin against David, "The Lord has taken away your sin."
Earlier, when Moses wanted the Lord to reveal himself to him, the Lord told Moses, "Yet he [the Lord] does not leave the guilty unpunished..." Exodus 34:7. So why does the Lord punish some for their sins, but not David?
The answer to that question resides in a fascinating look Paul provides of Jesus Christ. In Romans 3:25 he says, "God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."
When Nathan told David the Lord had taken away his sin, that didn't mean the sin David committed was not paid for. Paul explains that God the Father sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for all sins of all mankind for all time. This is why Jesus Christ died on that miserable cross. Forgiveness, the "taking away" of sin is appropriated when we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Peter makes this clear when he was given a vision that taught him, "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right." Acts 10:34-35.
No "teacher's pet" with God. Jesus Christ died for all people's sins for all time, whether committed before Jesus paid for them or at the end of this age. David was a great man of faith, recognized as one of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11.
David was no "teacher's pet" in regard to sin, but as a man who embraced the Lord in faith, not only his sin in the murder of Uriah and his adultery with Bathsheba was forgiven, all of his sins were forgiven. Just like you and me when we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Read what Jesus taught about this himself, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." John 3:16-18. If we fail to embrace Jesus Christ in this life, our sins condemn us for all eternity. If we embrace Jesus Christ in this life we will be freed from the penalty of our sins for all eternity.
How can it possibly get any better than that?!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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