Psalm 11, Isaiah 24:14-25:12, 1 John 2:15-29 - Lectionary for 12/8/11

Today's readings are Psalm 11, Isaiah 24:14-25:12, and 1 John 2:15-29. Today we see God coming in judgment. It always interests me that in doing away with death and destruction our Lord judges and destroys those who oppose him. To create perfection in eternity all that is imperfect must go. So how do we get away with the assertion that people who believe in Christ's work on their behalf are somehow perfect? That's the only way we can say that we would remain in eternity, but it doesn't take long to find problems with any theory of our perfection. Yet the Scripture says that if we are trusting in Jesus' righteousness, not our own, he calls us his own children. He makes us perfect. That confronts us with a question which we find dealt with in 1 John. How do we know we are trusting in God well enough? What if we are as fallible as we think we are? Worse yet, what if we are as fallible as others say we are? John reminds us that by faith in Christ we have confidence. We can be sure he has placed his love on us. We have no fear. So let us trust in our Lord and see that he has made us over in his image for his glory.