God is Merciful

While there are people who undeservedly have a bad rap, God is the worst maligned of anyone.  He is infinitely good, righteous and glorious in all His ways, yet people find fault with Him.  Even God's own people don't always listen to Him or trust Him.  There is a persistent view that persists in churched people that the "God of the Old Testament" has a split personality with God revealed in the New Testament.  Nothing could be further from the truth, for the eternal God does not change.  Malachi 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob."  Hebrews 13:8 affirms the deity of our Messiah with this fitting description:  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

The mercy, grace and love of God is seen throughout all scripture because He does not change.  Recently during a study in Genesis I was struck by God's mercy towards Lot and his family in Genesis 19:15-16:  "When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, "Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city." ¹⁶ And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city."  God was under no obligation to save Lot, but He was inclined to do so due to His great mercy.  While Lot lingered, the angelic visitors reached out and took Lot by the hand and led he and his family to safety before Sodom and the cities of the plain were destroyed.

God's mercy is seen even in the destructive judgment God brought upon hardened, unrepentant sinners.  The global flood in Noah's day, the ruin of Sodom and the plagues of Egypt are cautionary events the wise will consider:  God will surely judge those who do wickedly and there is no escape from God who knows all.  At the same time God has provided a means of escape for those who will believe and trust Him.  He provided the Law of Moses as a tutor to take His people by the hand, objectively reveal their sin and need for forgiveness, and thus lead them to Jesus Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  The resurrection of Jesus from the dead shows He is able to give eternal life as promised, for the wages of sin that bring death were atoned for by His shed blood.

The depressed psalmist mused in Psalm 77:7-9:  "Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favourable no more? ⁸ Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah."  The answer Asaph to all these questions was simply, "No!"  When Asaph focused on his forlorn feelings, his troubles and all that was wrong, it skewed his view of God.  Troubles stirred up the dregs of envy, greed and unbelief in his own heart and exposed his folly.  His infirmity did not mean God had problems.  It was when he began to consider the wonderful works of God and to speak of them his perspective totally changed.  He remembered how good and awesome God always is, regardless of his changing emotions and feelings.

Psalm 77:13-15 extols the immutable God:  "Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; who is so great a God as our God? ¹⁴ You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples. ¹⁵ You have with Your arm redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah."  Both sections end with "selah" which means to reflect and consider:  what reflections do you tend to have concerning God?  Are you focused on the judgment of the wicked or the mercy shown to His redeemed?  The words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts say more about us than God who is good and does not change.  Let us declare His praise now and forever as His people redeemed by the Gospel.

Kept In God's Love

In the short but weighty book of Jude, believers are provided a strong exhortation to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints.  More than watching others like a hawk, Jude desired believers would continue to faithfully walk in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ themselves without straying.  Unless we are holding fast to Christ in truth any effort to keep others in line will be a fruitless exercise in hypocrisy and will end in our ruin.

Jude reminded Christians of the judgment God brought upon erring angels and unbelieving people in times past as a warning of the danger of sin and apostasy.  He provided examples of those who corrupted themselves in Jude 1:11:  "Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah."  All these men acknowledged God's existence:  Cain conversed with God, Balaam was a genuine prophet of God, and Korah was a Levite called by God to the service of the tabernacle.  Despite this, the envious, murderous way of Cain led to him being cursed by God.  Balaam was greedy for money and honour, willing to curse God's people for a price.  He ended up being hewed down by the sword of Israel (Joshua 13:22).  Korah led a rebellion of 250 men against the LORD that directly led to his death when God caused the earth to open and swallow him.

These examples show having a relationship with God, being gifted as a prophet of God and being given authority and a calling by God does not ensure our hearts will remain steadfast in the faith.  Jude pointed out people like these could be found in their own love feasts, and the implication is it could be anyone--even readers who were shocked by this allegation.  In contrast to those who murmured, complained, walking according to their lusts, boasting, mockers and men-pleasers, Jude 1:20-21 exhorted:  "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."  As we walk in faith and obedience to Christ in love, we are to speak to God in prayer and look to Jesus for mercy.

If the book of Jude fills you with fear or trepidation of coming judgment, that is not the desired effect for a contrite child of God.  If it fell to our efforts to keep ourselves in the love of God, we would never achieve such a position nor would we be able to maintain in.  The book finishes with a flourish in Jude 1:24-25:  "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, ²⁵ to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."  We are not worthy, and we are not able:  but God is.  Not only does God bid us stand by His grace and keep us from stumbling, but the LORD is able to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.  How glorious is our awesome Redeemer who keeps us in His love, builds our faith, intercedes for us in prayer and meets our gaze with mercy.

Jesus Changes People

Using the right tool for a job helps accomplish the task set before you.  I learned the hard way that using the wrong tool is not only ineffective and inefficient, but it can damage the tool so it doesn't work properly to do what it was designed to do.  I made the mistake of using a Crescent wrench (spanner) as a hammer to tap on a bolt, and the result of this was misshaped steel prevented the jaw from opening fully.  Knowing the purpose of a spanner helps to use it properly, but knowing what a tool is made to do doesn't prevent laziness inside of me that decided to use a spanner rather than fetch a hammer.

Therein lies the limitation of having knowledge and being educated:  it doesn't fundamentally change you.  Educating minds has value, but all the knowledge in the world cannot change your heart.  This is where education as an end falls woefully short of the way people desire it to work.  They prescribe education of the mind believing it will change people for the better.  People who can read warnings with an understanding language will not always make a conscious choice in light of the facts they know.  A driver in NSW does not need an advertisement on TV or a warning written on a bottle containing alcohol that it is illegal and dangerous to drink and drive.  People still do it, despite their education and training, because they choose to.

When the boys were little, we had a hollow red and blue plastic ball filled with golden shapes.  It was a fun activity for the little fellas when I dumped out the shapes and showed them how to fit them through the matching hole.  It was frustrating when a similarly shaped piece would not fit into the hole (I'm looking at you, pentagon and hexagon):  try as they might, they could not force it inside the ball.  Many people in the world, and I include Christians in the number, are frustrated when we prescribe education for what only spiritual transformation can accomplish.  It makes no sense to aim for rehabilitation when a person was never righteous to begin with.  Education and training cannot change a heart or soul for good:  only Jesus does this.

Saul of Tarsus is a great example of this.  He was a highly educated man in the Law of Moses, a theologian and Pharisee who was filled with pride and self-righteousness.  His violent hatred of Jesus Christ prompted him to do unspeakable evils to disciples of Jesus, went to great lengths to ferret them out and arrest them, and even approved of Stephen's murder--knowing full well the Law said, "Thou shalt not murder."  But after Jesus met Saul on the road to Damascus, he was born again and was transformed from the inside out.  He went from being Saul of Tarsus to Paul the apostle, sent by God to the Gentiles to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ without price.  He worked with his hands to support the ministry and patiently endured great suffering as he encouraged fellow Christians to persevere with joy.  Saul did not need a course in anger management:  who he needed was Jesus, and to put his faith in Him as LORD.

It is no surprise the world places great hope in education changing the minds of people, but to imagine it can change hearts or save souls is a fantasy.  For those who are born again through faith in Jesus Christ, the power that raised Jesus from the dead resides in us in the person of the Holy Spirit.  Hitting people over the head with the Bible or facts about the dangers of drink-driving never changed a mind or heart, but Jesus is able to change people for the better continually.  From the inside God transformed Saul to Paul and kept changing him, even as God continues to conform us into the image of His Son, Jesus.  How I love Jesus, and how I need Him to be changed.

Choose the Way of Life

"Now you shall say to this people, 'Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death."

Jeremiah 21:8

When God's people in Jerusalem considered the prospects of fending off king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his army, they hoped for God's miraculous intervention.  Though they had strayed from Him, they wondered if He might do for them as He did in times past, to turn back their enemies and deliver them.  In the passage of Jeremiah 21 God responded there was no chance He would do this, for He had already determined it would fall for the grave sins committed there by His people.  Though the city would be destroyed, He still offered them the way of life and the way of death and allowed them to freely choose between them.

The prophet continued to speak the word of the LORD in Jeremiah 21:9:  "He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him."  If people wanted to live, they needed to trust God to leave the stronghold of Jerusalem and defect to the Chaldeans who would lay siege to the city.  But if they tried to defend themselves by remaining in the city, they would certainly die by way of sword, famine and pestilence.  Faith in God marked by obedience to God, not in the pity of their enemies, was the way of life.  This was the narrow way of life few people who lived in Jerusalem chose.  Unbelief led to their demise they could not escape.

This was not the first time God put the way of life and the way of death before His people.  Moses said in Deuteronomy 30:15-16, "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, ¹⁶ in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess."  The way of life was to love God and walk in His ways, and God promised to bless them.  The way of life is both practical and spiritual.  The ironic thing is God's people, when on the cusp of entering Canaan, refused to enter due to unbelief and died in the wilderness.  Only Caleb and Joshua from that generation entered the promised land to receive their inheritance, an abundant life provided by God for those who trust Him.

How fitting it is that Jesus, being God made flesh, claimed to be the Way, the Truth and the Life.  

Luke 9:23-24 records the words of Jesus Christ to all:  "Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it."  This fits perfectly with the principle of life and death held forth in Jeremiah and Deuteronomy:  to try to save our lives will result in our eventual deaths, but losing our life for Christ's sake by being born again by faith in Him brings eternal salvation.  By Christ's death and resurrection He has consecrated a new and living way to draw near to God through faith in Jesus.  Faith in Jesus is the narrow way that leads to abundant, eternal life few find.  What grace God has shown us, that the way of life has been revealed to all.  The wise can choose this path because Jesus has become wisdom for us.