2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
We continue to examine the traits of a kinsman-redeemer, particularly trait 5) He must be the judicial executioner of his relative’s murderer. Remember the first four are: 1) He must be a blood relative; 2) He must be able to pay the price of redemption; 3) He must desire to redeem; 4) He must be willing to redeem. Yesterday, we looked at the issue of Christ as our Blood Avenger against Satan. Today, we need to turn our attention to God’s judgment of the wicked, his followers.
The little book of Jude was probably written in 67-80 AD. It is thought that Jude was probably Christ’s half-brother, just as James was, and didn’t accept Christ’s divinity until after the resurrection (as was the case with James). A portion of this book is taken up with the issue of false teachers, who are certainly unrighteous. Jude addresses himself to their fate in JUDE 13-15, “They are like wild waves of the sea, with their shameful deeds showing up like foam. They are like wandering stars, for whom God has reserved a place forever in the deepest darkness. It was Enoch, the sixth direct descendant from Adam, who long ago prophesied this about them: ‘The Lord will come with many thousands of His holy angels to bring judgment on all, to condemn them all for the godless deeds they have performed and for all the terrible words that godless sinners have spoken against Him!’” When one realizes that all of this got started with Satan’s deception in the Garden of Eden, then it makes sense that Satan can be tagged a murderer of man’s spirits. That doesn’t even include the fact of his arrogant deception of one third of the heavenly host who were thrown down to earth with him beforehand [REV 12: 3-4]. Thus, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, the only One qualified to take on the sins of the world as the perfect offering to bring forgiveness, makes Him believing mankind’s Blood Avenger, the Judicial Executioner and their Kinsman-Redeemer.
RO 2: 6-11 also addresses itself to the judgment of the wicked. “For God will reward every person according to what he has done. Some people keep on doing good, and seek glory, honor, and immortals life; to them God will give eternal life. Other people are selfish and reject what is right, in order to follow what is wrong; on them God will pour out His anger and fury. There will be suffering and pain for all those who do what is evil, for the Jews first and also for the Gentiles. But God will give glory, honor, and peace to all who do what is good, to the Jews first and to the Gentiles. For God judges everyone by the same standard.” The balance and fairness in this passage speaks volumes as to the righteousness of our God. I know from personal experience the truth of what is said even from the relatively unimportant experiences of my own life. In the past, I was the subject of some rather evil-spirited gossip between three other family members that caused me a great deal of pain. The gossip was based on lies and had nothing to do with the truth. Satan had a real stronghold in their lives. There was nothing I could do to put an end to what was happened, except to pray. That I did for a very long time. Since then, two of the wrong-doers have passed away, and the third one has apologized and stopped this behavior. I never needed to defend myself or argue with them. God adjudicated this wrongdoing. What happened taught me to learn to trust Him. I am firmly convinced that PS 46:1 is true, “God is our Refuge and our Strength. He is a present Help in time of trouble.” We should always turn to Him first when evil is done to us.
What would keep us from doing evil? We find insight into this question in PS 119: 144, “Your instructions are always just; give me understanding, and I shall live.” We have no right nor reason to usurp God’s right to be the Avenger. As RO 12: 19 says the exacting of vengeance is God’s purview and not ours. Christ is our Kinsman-Redeemer, and we should never allow Satan to prompt us to try to usurp His sovereign rights. That is the height of arrogance and unrighteousness. God gives us important assurances that He will bring justice against our enemies. PS 94: 20-23, “You have nothing to do with corrupt judges who make injustice legal, who plot against good men and sentence the innocent to death. But the Lord defends me. He will punish them for their wickedness and destroy them for their sins; the Lord our God will destroy them.” PS 119: 137-138, “You are righteous, Lord, and Your laws are just. The rules that You have given are completely fair and right.” We have been given specific instructions on how to live “in Christ.” EPH 5: 3-5, which I hope you will read, and GA 5: 22-23 are two examples. Let me cite GA 5: 22-23, “But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these.”
PRAYER: O Lord, Your justice can be seen all over mankind’s history. The book of Esther tells of the justice You eventually brought down on the Persian king, Ahasuarus’ [Xerxes’] minister, Haman for his anti-Semitism in ES 7: 1-10. He ended up being hung on the same gallows he constructed for Mordecai, the Jewish queen, Esther’s [Hebrew name: Hadassah’s] cousin. PR 24: 23b-25 reveals Your will as conveyed by Solomon. “It is wrong for a judge to be prejudiced. If he pronounces a guilty person innocent, he will be cursed and hated by everyone. Judges who punish the guilty, however, will be prosperous and enjoy a good reputation.” PS 98: 8-9 really helps us to better understand. “Clap your hands, you rivers; you hills, sing together with joy before the Lord, because He comes to rule the earth. He will rule with justice and fairness.” You have given the Son the full authority to be our Judge, which places us in the hands of pure righteousness. Your compassion and love in doing this knows no bounds. We stand before You in gratitude for Your kindness, protection, provision, and guidance. Your patience with us matters, and we ask You to continue it as we dedicate ourselves to trusting and obeying You. We are ever-grateful that You are willing to defend us against our enemies and adjudicate their wrongdoing in Your perfect way and in Your own time. We stand back to allow You no interference with Your application of justice, and thus, are trying, Dearest Abba, not to fall into sin. We pledge not to hold grudges or take sinful action. Vengeance is Yours. We thank and praise You for sending Christ to be our Blood Avenger and humbly offer You our adoration, worship, diligence, loyalty, honor, and glory forever and ever. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen
I am led to begin discussing the sixth trait of a kinsman-redeemer in tomorrow’s message. Throughout every aspect of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we can find a myriad of evidences of His love. The opportunities for spiritual growth, the protection from one’s enemies, the very salvation of his spiritual life are examples. When God sent His Son to the cross, he made the greatest and most painful sacrifice a Father could make. We can’t even begin to imagine offering our only child for the sake of those who at that time are our enemies, and yet, that is what He did. When viewed this way, how can we not agree to love and obey Him? Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn