Promises of God and an Easter Appeal

Sin requires judgment. This is inescapable. Sometimes the judgment comes immediately, sometimes later (even after this life). But it most certainly comes. Because of the grace and mercy of God, many of us have become presumptuous, supposing that because He has not been in the recent practice of opening the ground and swallowing whole the rebellious (Numbers 16) or bringing a plague on complainers (Numbers 11), that we’ll escape punishment by our little, harmless sins.

Societally, we thank God for delayed judgment, because my-oh-my, He must be mad at us for the rate at which we slaughter unborn babies or sanction what God calls abominable (adultery, homosexuality, etc.).

God will judge our society for these and our countless other sins, to be sure. But what we often fail to realize is that the sin IS the judgment. I’ll try to show you briefly from one Old Testament example and one New Testament example.

God gave lots and lots and lots of promises to His people Israel in the Law of the Old Testament. Many are promised blessings for obedience to His commands and for loving Him. But many of the promises are warnings of what will befall them if they disobey His commands. Deuteronomy 28 is a long chapter that includes a whole lot of promises of the negative sort: “But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you” (28:15).

The whole chapter is worth a read, then hang a right in your Bible to the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities to learn (A) what the fulfillment of the promises looked like when Israel’s heart wandered and (B) that He wasn’t kidding. He promised that they would worship other gods (a direct violation of the first commandment) and find no relief when they were scattered:

“And the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. And among these nations you shall find no respite, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot, but the Lord will give you there a trembling heart and failing eyes and a languishing soul. Your life shall hang in doubt before you…” (Deut. 28:64-66a).

This is not merely declarative on the Lord’s part; it is imperative. It is as though He is saying, “Turn your heart from me and I’ll give you precisely what you want, and you’ll want precisely what you get.” The worship of the foreign gods would bring no security, satisfaction or joy.

We fast forward to the New Testament and see the theme continue in Romans 1, where Paul teaches his readers that a sinful lifestyle is as much a judgment as it is a cause for judgement. Natural men who hate God – though they know in their hearts that God is real – are frequently given over to actually want and enjoy wickedness. They commit idolatry, profane their bodies (Rom. 1:24-27) and more. They are “filled with all manner of unrighteousness,” etc. (1:28-31) and encourage others to do the same (1:32). It’s a harrowing indictment.

So, what’s the point of all of this? Why would I post this on Easter? Well, it’s true all the time, but there’s a bit of particular significance for Easter.

First, we need to stop thinking of judgment as something that is far off; judgment is here. Living a life for Christ is not a box we can check when we’re done having fun in this life; the longer we wait, the longer the time we spend incurring – and under judgment. That’s bad.

Second, our judgment has been borne by Christ. The righteous wrath of the Almighty and True God was poured out on His innocent Son so that He wouldn’t have to pour it out on us. Although we incur judgment as a society for our societal sins, the individual sins of Christians have been judged already at the cross. And by placing our faith in Christ and embracing His Lordship, submitting ourselves to Him and living for Him, we are counted among His children. Our sin is atoned for and we receive the righteousness of Christ.

While it’s not exactly a story of pastel eggs, chocolate and bunnies, it is certainly about new life. That is, new and eternal life in Christ rather than a life awaiting the certain and final judgment for our sins. Rather than paying for those sins ourselves, the payment is made for us by Another: Jesus Christ.

When Christ arose from the dead that fateful Sunday nearly 2,000 years ago, it marked a certain and final victory over death. His payment as Man (for men) and as God (for multiple men) was completely satisfying to the Father, the One Whom is most offended in our sin.

If you have not given your life to Jesus Christ, I urge you to do so today. Enjoy the freedom that comes in living a life for Him. It will not be a bed of roses; sin will likely maintain an active presence in your life (as it does in mine), but as we love Christ and live for Him, we can do so knowing that remaining sin has been atoned for and that – rather than a eternity of divine judgment – there awaits an eternity in the glorious presence of God.

Happy Easter!

Shared @ Works for Me Wednesday.