Much of the world still views God
as a judgmental, harsh, old man sitting on a throne bitter towards those below
His feet. This is heresy. God is loving, holy, completely pure, spotless,
immaculate, profoundly good and extremely long-suffering. His holy attributes prompted Him to send His
Son to save the world, not condemn it—“For God so loved the World…” (John
3:16). If you think He is harsh, you
don’t know God at all.
Why would a harsh ruler
send his only begotten son as a sacrifice to appease his own righteousness? And why would that son accept such a
role? They wouldn’t. Cold, embittered rulers would provide no way
of salvation and condemn all to punishment, let alone lay down their life for
those who deny them as king. In His
infinite compassion, God does sit upon a throne—a throne of righteousness. Webster defines righteous as morally right or
justifiable, virtuous, genuinely good.
God is the Father of all by virtue of creation—He created absolutely
everything—and wants to save His creations from the punishment of offending His
holiness. He cannot simply look the
other way—He is pure and long-suffering, but evil cannot stand uncontested
anywhere in His creation. He had to do
something, so in love He sent His Son to take our place in condemnation. He sent Himself. God was poured out into the tent of a human
body to provide a pure, unblemished, holy lamb for sacrifice, knowing no other
way was possible (Isaiah 53; Philippians 2:6-11; Hebrews 10:1-18).
Now that is not a harsh,
judgmental, cold, bitter God. That is
neither self-seeking nor arrogant. That is love. It is forgiving, self-denying,
self-sacrificing, and pure. We as humans
are the selfish ones who pout and raise our chins in disgust that He doesn’t
base our salvation off of works. But you
tell me, is a simple acceptance of Jesus as God, and as Savior, more difficult
than working for salvation? I fail to
see the logic in people saying God is cruel, casting good people into hell. The road to damnation is paved with good
intentions, but if you fail to accept Jesus as your Savior, then hell is your
eternity. I think it cruel for those
good people to deny Jesus and His ultimate act of love. The unsaved, good people cast themselves into
hell by choosing to deny the one determining factor of
salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. Humans
are the bitter, cold ones denying God’s love.
Let us not be one of the
many condemned by outright denial of Christ, nor with words claiming Him, but
hearts separate from Him. Have respect
for the Holy One. He will judge
all—believe it now or you will. When in
worship, know exactly who you’re coming before.
We are children of the Living God—think like it, act like it, worship
like it. Do not be like the Israelites
in the book of Malachi who placed earthly leaders ahead of our heavenly
Father. “Oh that one of you would shut
the (church) doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am
not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty… (Malachi 1:10). “A son honors his father, and a servant honors
his master. If I am a father, where is
the honor due me? If I am a master,
where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty (Malachi 1:6). God wants our love and respect; this comes
from the heart, not from “useless fires” of lip service. Know who you claim to love. How can you worship or love someone without
knowing who they are?
If you truly wish to know
peace and contentment, approach the throne of grace in confidence and you will
be forgiven, accepted into the family of God.
He will clear your guilty conscience, wash your sins away, and raise you
up with Him in a new life (Hebrews 10:19-23).
Just as He died to sin and rose from the dead by the gracious love of
His Father, so too will your old self die and be resurrected to Him in new
life—now in the spirit and in bodily form at His definite return (Romans
6:1-14).
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