“The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He. Deuteronomy 32:4.
Why is it that when I witness to people, who are rejecting Jesus, most will typically want to talk about when He overturned the tables in the temple? “Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.” Matthew 21:12. As if somehow Jesus anger made Him less God. These people infer that Jesus is “supposed” to be loving and perfect. What they fail to recognize is that it was because of His perfect love that He was so upset. He had Love for His Father’s house, Love for His Father and love for those who had come to make offerings of repentance to His Father. Those whose tables He turned over were taking advantage of those who desired a right relationship with His Father. Of course He was angry.
Everything that Jesus did was rooted in love and the fact that He got angry doesn’t disprove that He was God or negate that love. His anger was because people who wanted to repent and have a right relationship with God were not just being taken advantage of, but were also (if they didn’t have enough money, now that the prices had been inflated) being kept from being obedient to God’s law.
The god that these money changers worshiped was the same god a lot of people worship today. That god is named money.
God created us and desired to have a relationship with us. A loving personal relationship. He gave us free will, so that we could choose whether to love Him or not. He could have created us like robots who walk around chanting how wonderful He is (Stepford Children I like to call them), but He didn’t. Because He wanted us to choose Him.
God says, in His word, that the wages of sin is death. As the creator of everything, including us, if He says that the penalty for sin is death and we have all sinned, it would be His right to wipe us all off the face of the planet. But because God is a God of justice, He hasn’t done that. Not because some of us haven’t sinned, but because of Jesus.
Knowing that we would all sin (For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23), He created a way of escape from the punishment of sin (For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23). That way of escape is Jesus.
Why would God, if He wasn’t loving, go to the lengths that He has to insure that we would have an opportunity to be forgiven and to live (for all of eternity) with Him in Paradise? “And this is what he promised us—eternal life” – 1 John 2:25.
All that God asks is that we repent (ask for forgiveness) turn from our sin and live our lives for Him. “For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” Ezekial 18:32. He doesn’t desire that anyone should perish. “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” 2 Peter 3:9 (NLT).
Our Heavenly Father, sent His only Son to be betrayed, beaten and to suffer and die. And, He did this so that the sin debt (that we couldn’t pay) could be forgiven and that through His Son – Jesus Christ we could have a personal relationship with Him. In light of His great mercies and all that He has done for us, it doesn’t even make sense that we would reject Him, but we do.
For those of us who have repented and who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we have already reserved our place in His eternal Kingdom. Not because of anything we have done, but because of what Jesus did. Because of the shed blood of Jesus, when we stand before God, He won’t see our sin. Our sin was forgiven when we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior.
But, for those who have rejected Christ, the debt remains and must be paid. If God didn’t require payment, He wouldn’t be just and His word would be a lie. Theses can’t pay that debt and they will face His judgement. “and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. John 5:29.
Remember….the wages of sin is death.
Church, there is a world full of people, many are our friends and loved ones, that have rejected God and will face a day of judgement. Are we going to just stand by and watch them go? Jesus, in us, is the hope, peace and joy that they seek and need. Will we tell them?
I pray that today, we would be bold for God. And, that we would love those around us, with a supernatural love from God. I pray that we would have the heart of our Savior and that we would be willing to endure rejection and persecution, in hopes of the redemption of those around us. I pray that we would be zealous for Him and for the eternal souls of those we love and those around us (Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:14).
It is a dark time, lets serve the Lord and glorify Him with the works that He would have us do. (In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16).
If you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and you are uncertain about your eternal salvation, I pray that you would go to our Life Preserver page (https://forgiven-n-loved.com/life-preserver/) and pray the prayer that is outlined there. God has gone to great lengths to have a loving, personal relationship with you, please accept His free gift.
Once you have prayed this prayer, please reach out to me at admin@Forgiven-N-Loved.com. I’d love to be in prayer for you.
Luv ya!
