Head for Cover

     I happened to be watching a TV show where a judge was questioning the plaintiffs and the defendants over a dispute on family law. The judge quickly zeroed in on the plaintiffs and it became evident they were in the wrong and committed a very serious crime. You could see the judge getting more and more incensed at their actions and the pathetic arguments they were giving. I could almost feel the heat from the judge’s anger coming through the television. I felt uncomfortable.

      I remember a time I was in a grocery store with some buddies of mine when I was about ten years old. We decided to take some candy bars and stuff them in our pants just to see if we could get away with stealing them. As we were leaving the store my candy bar became loose and I was trying to keep it from falling on the floor. The manager of the store saw what was going on and he grabbed me and my friend. He made us call our mothers on the phone and he told them what we had done. I was so embarrassed I wanted to climb in a hole.

     What will it be like to stand before God in all His holiness and power and account for our lives? The Bible is clear that God will require this from everyone of us, even from us believers. It will be the most uncomfortable, embarrassing thing we will ever experience. Imagine the eyes of God piercing our hearts and bringing out every dark thought or sinful action we have ever committed. And unlike an earthly judge or a grocery store manager, God judges with perfect holiness, justice, and righteousness. His is not an earthly judgment with earthly consequences. His judgment is eternal. We will abide in His judgment forever. If it will be uncomfortable for us Christians to stand before God what will it be like for the ungodly? No wonder the reaction given by the unrighteous when Jesus appears in His glory:

              Then the kings of the earth and the great men and

              the commanders and the rich and the strong and

              every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves
              and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said

              to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and

              hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the

              throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.”

                                                                 Revelation 6:5, 6

Maestro is Playing

Satan is the master deceiver. He is playing his fiddle. We are listening. He is playing his fiddle and putting us to sleep. He has hypnotized us. He has hypnotized us believers. We are buying his lies.What lies?

As believers we have been sucked into certain ways of thinking that are not from God, but are from Satan.

It is a commonly held belief among Christians that it is impossible to be free from sin in this earthly life.

Throughout the Bible it teaches sin is not from God.

Didn’t Jesus die for our sin?

Doesn’t God command us not to sin?

Where does the idea come from that we must sin?

That we can’t help but sin?

It doesn’t come from God.

It is a commonly held belief among Christians that we must die.

But Enoch didn’t die.

Elijah didn’t die.

They’re from the Old Testament.

We’re from the New.

Do we have to die?

Didn’t Jesus die for us?

Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24)

Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.” (John 8:51)

Jesus said to Martha on the way to Lazuras’ tomb, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? ” (John 11:25, 26)

Who do we believe?

The devil and the world say we must sin, say we must die.

Jesus said we don’t.

Who are we going to listen to?

The Bible speaks of a group of believers at the end of time that will not die in what is commonly referred to as the “rapture”.

Maybe they are those who have learned to stop listening to Satan’s fiddle.

Crybaby

But that’s not fair! Why does she (fill in the blank) get to (fill in the blank) and I don’t?

 

When we’re little one of the first lessons and one of the toughest lessons we learn is that life’s not fair. We have to learn to accept this as part of life and move on.

But why is life not fair? Isn’t God fair? Isn’t God just? Where is He in all of this?
God is fair. God is just. But He is not the ruler of this world.

Jesus calls Satan, “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31). Satan and his angels are mostly responsible for the fallen condition of the world. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one (I John 5:19). Satan is unfair. Satan is unjust. Not God.

Jesus taught us to pray that God’s will would be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Jesus is indicating that God’s will is not being done on earth as God’s will is being done in Heaven. Unfairness, unjustness do not come from God, they come from Satan.

The Bible says that God judges with equity (Psalm 98:9). I once heard a preacher speaking on that verse and especially the word, equity. He explained that God is able to come into any situation, any life, and bring it up to a level playing field of judgment. He is able to bring it into equity. This is represented by the well known image of Lady Justice who holds the balances of judgment while blindfolded indicating justice is impartial and balanced in judgment.

It doesn’t matter what kind of life someone has lived, God will judge that life with equity. God sorts out all injustice and unfairness. He does not hold us responsible for sin or for a sinful culture brought upon us that we are not responsible for. He holds us responsible only for our own sin.

God judges righteous judgment. 
God is fair.