Scripture: Revelation 15:1, 3
1 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues -- last, because with them God's wrath is completed... 3 [they] sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb:
"Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the ages..."
Observation:
Plagues and wrath.
Great and marvelous.
Just and true.
Great and marvelous.
Just and true.
These things don't seem to go together and yet they do. The Lord, whose deeds are "great and marvelous" and whose ways are "just and true" will unleash terrible plagues which express His wrath against evil humanity.
Application: I tend to emphasize the love and grace aspects of God's nature so these ideas of plagues and wrath seem strange to me. But the truth is that without wrath and punishment for the wicked, there can be no love and grace. Without a true hatred for evil, good has no chance to flourish. I was speaking with a young friend yesterday and discussing how much easier it is to do bad things than good things. (We were talking about personal responsibility and taking care of ourselves and others.) If there were no consequences for bad behavior, our sin nature would naturally gravitate in that direction. And the results for our world would be devastating.
On the global scale, if there were no punishment for sins, then the wicked would flourish and right and good would suffer. One of the ways God shows His mercy to those who love Him and do right is to show no mercy to their enemies.
Prayer: Lord, I thank You for justice which flows from Your righteous nature. Help Your people to love truth and justice and to work for it always. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
1 comment:
This subject of ultimate judgment on evil is not taught much today nor is it accepted by many. Most people seem to want a "sugar-daddy" type of God and even get angry at the idea that God would dare to judge anyone. We ourselves are also called names if we dare to judge someone else's lifestyle. But you are right. Without judgment and removal of sin, there is no hope of ever having a heaven or a peace on earth.
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