God’s Perfect Justice

 

Photo cred: Mr. Dietrich

“Don’t you SEE that?”

“Aren’t you going to DO something?!”

“This is ridiculous!”

“Are you kidding me?!”

This was the chorus that surrounded me last evening as I watched a home varsity lacrosse game from the stands. 

Cries rose up from adult men, women, and high school students alike, mostly directed at the referees, but also to one another, as they shouted in disbelief at the failure of flags thrown and fouls overlooked during the second half of the game. 

This conference match up always proves to be harrowing as both teams are superior in the league. Let’s just say that “contentious” might be putting it mildly, and I could feel the electric energy and palpable tension the entire time of play. 

On one level, it was an interesting display to watch. Our home players would score, then do a quick-step-and-fist-pump in front of the visiting student section. In similar form, their players would run at full speed toward one another, take a flying leap, and chest bump one another. It was quite a show of “athletic peacocking” as well as lacrosse playing skills to say the least.

Both teams played their hearts out as the game went into two periods of overtime. 

Finally, with one sure-fire shot into the net, sudden victory was achieved and the visiting team cheered at their game win.

I overheard one frustrated home team fan voice to another, “This is the worst officiating I’ve ever seen in my life!”

As a mom of one of the players, I can understand the frustration that was being vented throughout the game. But I could also see times when our team dropped the ball or plays could have been better executed. The car ride home was quiet and it put me into a pensive mood, reflecting upon God‘s perfect justice and His sure victory at the end of the Age.

Isaiah 11 says this beautifully, starting with verse 3:

 “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness, he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.” Isaiah 11:3-5

The passage goes on to paint a picture of how the lion will lay down with the lamb and how little children will play near the hole of the cobra. 

Won’t it be amazing in God‘s kingdom that there will be no rivalries or contentiousness, a place where predators and prey will live in harmony?!

You see, in God‘s kingdom, it plays out this way:

Did you SEE that? 

Yes, God SEES and KNOWS. 

Are you going to DO something about that? 

Yes, God will. (In fact, He already did by sending His Son, and He currently is as His kingdom unfolds here on earth)

My son came home with a bent pole from the last play (I’m thankful his pole bore the brunt of all that force, and not him!).

Maybe you, like me, feel a little bent up and beat up from the battle that wages in the world, and in our very own hearts at times.

But as believers in Christ, we’re so blessed to know the victor and to have the assurance that the battle has already been fought and WON!

Jesus is Better

Unsplash: Emma Shappley

Last week, we looked at the exhortation to throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that entangles us to run with perseverance the race marked out for us (see Hebrews 12:1).  Put in this way, it seems that throwing off our excess baggage, as it were, is for our benefit: to achieve the purpose God has for us, for our good and for His ultimate glory. In the larger context of Hebrews, we can do this because Jesus (as the author of Hebrews so eloquently lays out for us) is better.

This week, we will consider a few other reasons why we are called to throw off all that hinders us and the sin that can entangle that also appear in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews.

There is a sizable section of the chapter devoted to the concept that God disciplines us because He is our father and we are His children, and that His reproof is actually an outpouring of His love, done only as  a result of our relationship as sons to Him. 

"And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? 'My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.' [requoted from Prov 3: 11-12] It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?"   Hebrews 12:5-7

So, when we feel the conviction of sin, we ought to interpret that as the grace bestowed upon us by a tender, loving Father, laboring to draw us closer to Himself.  It is not a bad thing, ultimately, but a very good thing! It establishes us as His children, giving us comfort and security that we are indeed a part of His fold.

Lastly, the twelfth chapter of Hebrews ends with the concept that God is to be feared. In fact, a huge reason why we ought to gettison anything in our lives that does not serve our spiritual walk or bring glory to Him is that God is a powerful, frightening, wrathful God, and what He says GOES.  I am afraid that we do not meditate upon God's wrath enough as modern Christ-followers.  Yes, God is our gracious Father, disciplining us out of His fatherly love. But He is also a wrathful, terrifying God with whom no one dared encounter in the time of the Exodus. (If you recall, the Israelite people elected Moses to be their spokesperson and mediator out of fear of talking directly with God or coming into His presence.)

"For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, 'If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.' Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, 'I tremble with fear.'”    Hebrews 12:18-21

I am challenged by how this chapter includes the exhortation found in verse 25: 

"See that you do not refuse him who is speaking." 

Will you...will I...ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit to throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles?  Or will we listen, obey, and choose not to quench the Spirit's work in our hearts and lives?

I am thankful for the power we have through our union with Christ to say NO to sin, since sin is quite literally dead to us (see Romans 6), and for the ability in Christ to throw off and to run hard!  May we do this in our lives, and may a watching world be in wonder at the amazing God in all of our midst.

 

Throwing Off the Burdens

Source: Unsplash, Pavitra Baxi

Recently I've been reflecting upon the exhortation given at the beginning of Hebrews chapter 12 to us as believers:

 

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us..."  Hebrews 12:1

We are encouraged to throw off everything that hinders us in life.  And yet, the author of Hebrews makes a fascinating distinction.  Did you catch it?

Lay aside every weight AND sin.  Meaning...not every weight we carry is sin.

And yet those things that hinder our growth or our witness do not serve us and ought to be laid aside.

Sure, weights can include sin, but they are not limited to sin.

Paul says it this way, in his letter to the church in Corinth:

" 'All things are lawful,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful,' but not all things build up."   1 Corinthians 10:23

So, this has me thinking...

What in my life is hindering my joy, peace, holiness, or my witness to the gospel?

What things are draining me, distracting me, impeding the work that God is doing in and through me?

What things seem to have a magnetic pull for my time and attention? 

Ought I lay these things aside?

I find it particularly telling that the writer of Hebrews gives us this exhortation when the theme of Hebrews as a book is that Jesus is better: Jesus is better than the prophets, the angels, Moses. He is the better sacrifice, the better priest, and He ushers in a better covenant. You get the idea.

Why ought we lay aside the weights that hinder and the sin that so easily entangles?

One reason is that Jesus is better.

More to come as I reflect upon these things and examine my own lifestyle, indwelling sin, and daily habits.

Will you join me, dear friend?

Will you stop to consider the things--sinful things and non-sinful things--that might be hindering your joy, peace, witness or sapping your energy, stealing your time, being a burden for you that you simply don't need to continue to carry?

I pray that the Spirit would reveal to us those things we ought to jettison, knowing that He will provide the power and strength to carry it out, to the glory and praise of God.