As we read today we see that we are in the hands of a God who knows us intimately, who lovingly cares for the details of our life, and who desires to show that love for other believers through our works of mercy and love. This is a stark contrast to the way our Lord and Savior treats those who do not believe on him, who do not submit their will to his care. On those he promises judgment. Those people will receive the reward of their deeds.
Why is this such a difficult concept in our culture today? I think it's because we see ourselves as generally good. We've diminished the idea of God's holiness and of mankind's sinfulness. So we've decided, on one level, that we are really pretty good. We've decided that pretty good is really quite good enough. We deny the idea that all have sinned. We deny the idea that God holds perfection as his standard. We figure that since we can't attain to perfection we need to adjust the standard so we can reach up to it. At the same time we look at the terrible things some people do. We are indignant because of them, though we are really not sure what the standard of "good enough" might be. In effect, then, we set ourselves up as the standard.
The Scripture paints a radically different picture. God is entirely holy and perfect. He demands that all his creation be like he is in perfection. Because creation has failed, has fallen away, all creation is condemned to destruction. Yet our Lord has said that he would take that destruction upon himself. In the person of Jesus, God the Son, God almighty took on our imperfection. He became sin for us and suffered separation and condemnation from the Father. In the person of Jesus, God almighty showed that death would not prevail over him, so he rose from the dead. the Bible says that all we do is believe what he did. Doing so, we receive the gift of God's perfect righteousness, despite what it seems we are like. We are declared not guilty. We are restored to the picture God holds of us in Psalm 139.
Is this hard to swallow? Lots of things are. But it's what our Lord has given us. Let us look to him in faith and trust.
No comments:
Post a Comment