Posted on 10/06/2004 9:19:14 PM PDT by Radio Bible Guy
When is it “OK” for an innocent bystander to be brutalized at the whim of a common thug?
Amid the collection of worldviews we endeavor to rationalize in our pluralistic cultural, brutalizing ones neighbor and stranger alike is still repugnant to most. Who among us, whether atheist, Christian, or secular humanist will praise and commend the actions of a judge who in the name of love and understanding does not penalize the lawbreaking thief, rapist, and murderer. Why is it so difficult for the average person to apply this simple example of reality to God?
If the Creator God is pleased to communicate with the highest order of abstract communication and that being, “the written Word,” then why do men quiver in revolt when God uses language and figures of speech that help the generations of man better understand His character or who God is? Here is a great Old Testament example form the book of Isaiah chapter 66 of what I mean:
"For behold, the LORD will come with fire and with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword the LORD will judge all flesh; and the slain of the LORD shall be many..." Isaiah 66:15-18
Hear the words of the Lord Jesus when He says in the Gospel of Luke:
"...And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken..." Luke 21:20-28
And again simply but powerfully spoken by Christ in the Gospel of John:
"He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John 3:36
When God uses such words as “anger,” “fury,” “vengeance,” and “wrath” they do not stand-alone but reveal an antithesis, the other side of the coin, if you will, that communicates the justice and fairness that God’s character lovingly reveals as a part of His ultimate plan to protect the weak and mistreated people in every era.
Love never lets wicked abusive behavior continue until everything and everyone is destroyed and all that remains is the wicked abusing person. Law is made and used like a heavy winter jacket that protects its wearer for the icy storms of injustice. If God has decided to interact intimately with His creation and more richly reveal Himself through His Word, the Bible, by emphasizing His love through His law by describing the fate of the lawless or those who refuse to love God’s just ways, then is this cause for debasing God’s motives, purpose, and very Being? May it never be!
Who has known the mind of God that we could or should instruct Him? Where was anyone of us when God set in order the billions of particulars in His creation? Does the one created have the right to say, “Why have you made me this way”? Who has made us different and what do we have that we have not received?
When people decry and blame God as capricious with His sovereignty over their sins and daily events, it is only because they hope to impute to Him what they are unable to come to terms with, the limitations of their own mortality. Man “feels” justified in his dictates upon the Creator because of the artificial security he clings to called “free agency.” This natural man attempts to brandish his autonomy like a mighty sword. However, when all is said and done, be it centuries of psychological or philosophical determinism, he is left isolated and unshielded...pitifully beating the air.
No matter how hard this creature may try he will NEVER be free...his will is “bound” by what he demands ...and want he wants most...his “right” to rule, all areas of life, as he sees fit. An autonomous status he claims but has zero entitlement. Herein, are nourished the bitter roots of injustice, suffered within the social order. That is, man who when given the opportunity, no matter his race, economic status or religion will aggressively enslave another man if advantage affords him.
Only the One, who sets the innumerable details of the universe in order, has the ability and means to intervene in man’s cycle of death. This construct is accomplished as a “creative act,” restoring, reconciling, and in reality, recreating after the same creative accomplishments recorded at the beginning of time. This is the new creation, established through the authority of the One God sent into history, in accord with His mandate to bring life to the nations. That One is the Lord Jesus Christ, King and Ruler of the nations, He who reigns this day over all creation at the right hand of God.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."
Jeremiah 29:11-13
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