Pleasure

 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?
Ezekiel 18:23 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/ezk.18.23.ESV

Many people, even if they believe in God's existence, have a grotesque caricature of Him as some grumpy old man up in the sky, itching to smite us for our importunity. This couldn't be further from the truth. The answer to God's rhetorical question is a resounding 'no' for the first half, and 'yes' for the second half.

If God really just wanted us all to die, He would let us do so. Yet if we trust in the Resurrection and Life of Jesus, even our physical deaths will just be like falling asleep until He wakes us up. We're all naturally dead spiritually; but we can be supernaturally made alive spiritually.

Even with our forefather Adam and Eve, God didn't simply condemn them to death, but promised deliverance, through the Offspring of Eve. The virgin born Son of Mary is the eternal Son of God through whom we can have eternal life. Adam and Eve looked forward to Christ's first advent; we look back.

In the Lord Jesus Christ, we see the truth of this verse most clearly. God didn't send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him has life; whoever doesn't believe in Him faces condemnation.

'Our Heavenly Father, please help us to trust in Your Son for salvation, and live for Him and His glory, in whose name we pray, amen'

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mercy

  For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them. Deuteronomy 4:31 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/deu.4.31.ESV Jesus Christ is Lord. That's why they crucified Him, for claiming to be God and King: blasphemy to the Jews and treason to the Romans. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. So the same Jesus of yesterday is the Jesus of today. He was merciful yesterday, and He'll be merciful today and forever. He doesn't just turn around and decide to destroy people He's lavished His mercy upon. If we've received God's mercy, or if we receive it now, or before Christ returns, nothing can separate us from the love of God. If we want God's presence in our lives, and we cry out to Him for it, He's not going to abandon us in the wilderness of our sin. If we claim God's Bible promises for ourselves in faith, we are safe in Him. God promises never t
Read more

Power

 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.Exodus 9:16 ESVhttps://bible.com/bible/59/exo.9.16.ESV  Secular historians point to the lack of extra-biblical evidence of Hebrew slavery in Egypt and ensuing exodus. But here in this verse, God describes how this anonymous Pharoah has been immortalised in the annals of the Hebrews, so that God is proclaimed in all the earth. The mighty men of the world might think they can stand against God and win, but resistance is futile!  The more stubborn Pharoah was, the more the Lord was able to display His power. The more insistent Pharoah was of keeping his slaves, the more unreasonable he appeared. It was a battle of wills, and the will of Yahweh prevailed.  In the end, Pharoah will have been broken by the plagues. In the final plague, his own firstborn son was killed, the next in line to the throne of the world superpower. He might have tried to put a brave face on it, but he
Read more

Follow!

 And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23 ESV Early on in His ministry, Jesus was really popular. Even just earlier in this chapter, Jesus fed 5,000 men, plus women and children miraculously. But when He started making statements like this verse, He understandably became less popular. Basically, Jesus was asking those who would follow Him to go on 'death row'. Following Jesus in 1st Century Roman Palestine wasn't about pressing a button on social media. It was about changing the entire orientation of your life to live for the promised Messiah.  Understandably, not many people signed up to 'death row for Jesus'. As Jesus made His way inexorably to the cross, the crowds peeled away. They were no better than the Romans, hankering after 'free bread and circuses', and when Jesus didn't play ball, they turned away disillusioned. Note however that Jesus isn't simply ca
Read more