"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Our Just Judge


This past week we have been going through lessons 16-18 in a wonderful OT Bible curriculum called “The Roots of Faith”.  And this week we studied story of the Tower of Babel, God’s promises to Abram, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. 

The story of God’s destruction of Sodom was quite fascinating as well as sobering.  Through it we came to see four attributes of God – He is Holy, Merciful, Just and Longsuffering.  (Wayne, this is the skinny)

But in our study of this particular story in scripture, we saw God as the just judge, always judging in the most fair and just way.  Listen to what the LORD says before He goes down to Sodom and Gomorrah – “Then the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” (Gen. 18:20-21, ESV)

So I asked the students how they saw God as being just in this passage.  Their answer, “well just as a judge will take into account what is being said about the one on trial, he will also take into account what he discovers about the one on trial.”  A man is tried by his actions as well as tried by what others say about his actions.   And God is showing us that even though He knew Sodom’s actions, He heard the accusations about this wicked city and He was personally, as judge, going down to observe for Himself the actions of these people.

I take great comfort in knowing this.  We have a just judge who will not only hear the accusations but will look on the matters Himself.  Do you know there is one who accuses us every day?  He is called the “accuser of the brethren” and is consistently calling up the wrong we have done or even falsely accusing us.

God then looks on every accusation that is made about me and when He comes to look on the matter concerning me (or anyone who has placed their trust in Jesus) He only sees His Son and the righteous payment His Son made through His blood for us.  He just does not hear the accusations and acts on them.  He is the just Judge who fully investigates any and all complaints.  

Praise the Lord for our great God and just Judge.  Praise the Lord for our great High Priest and Advocate, our Lord Jesus Christ.

(This also causes me to pause and pray for a dear friend, Ron, who is just in all his work as a lawyer.  His dad, Don, has had some serious health problems lately and this brings to mind to pray for him.  And Ron just sent me a note about another friend who is getting a double lung transplant and would welcomes the petition of the saints.)

The Manner of God's Love


For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not parish but have everlasting life.  John 3:16

This week I have been thinking about the conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus and this is one sentence in Jesus’ discussion that has been used probably more than any other New Testament verse in the Bible and yet remains as mysterious as the day Jesus uttered it.  Most English translations are similar to the one above – “God so loved the world…” and many who share this verse think of the “so” as “so much” or the volume of God’s love– therefore the idea would be – “God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son…”  Now it is possible that this is meaning but more likely the “so” means – “in this manner” or “in this way”.  If this is the case, the verse would go something like this – “God loved the world in this manner, He gave His only Son…”   The manner in which God showed His love or demonstrated His love or communicated His love is in the sacrifice of His one and only Son.  The Son who said, “I have come to do the will of my Father.”  The Son who is the only expressed image, exact representation, the “carbon copy” of the Father.  The Son who was the only one honored by the Father when He said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”   This is the One who was in the Beginning with God, who was with God, and who was God.  This is the One who did exactly as He had been instructed by the Father and did as He saw the Father do.  This ONE is God in the flesh, God with us, God the One and Only. 

And in this manner God loves the world – He sacrificed this ONE for someone like me?  For someone like you?  For someone like the people in this world?  This does not compute in our economy.  If I had the rarest, most brilliant, largest cut, and purest diamond in the world would I trade that diamond in for a diamond or diamonds less in value?  If you had the best or perfect of anything, would you give that up for anything that was of less value?  But we see in this verse that God loved the world in this manner – He gave up the ONE who was dearest, perfect, and of greatest value for something (someone) less.  He gave His Son for us.  This is a mystery and this is glorious and this is humility and this is love and this is only God. 

When I think on the way God loved us, I am changed in every way.  How could He love a wretch like me in this way?  How could He have his most Precious sacrificed for by far less significant sinners like you and me?  From man’s economy this would not add up.  But I am so thankful for God’s economy, an economy that we may never fully comprehend.  Who is like our God and who can compare to Him?  No one will ever figure Him out and all will rejoice in Him and praise and thank Him forever more.