2005-09-16
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
Throughout our examination of God's law, we will find it hard to miss an overarching principle, God's regard for human life. The sad part is that it sometimes becomes necessary for God to end a human life, which has horribly gone wrong and is under the influence of the evil one. The death of Adolph Hitler is an example. This is not meant to say that all physical death is in this category. My understanding that that our physical deaths after living out a normal life span is a consequence of the original sin, but spiritual death doesn't have to accompany them. If one comes to faith and is obedient to God afterward then, He is forgiven, and his spiritual life is eternal [JN 3:16; RO 3: 24-25]. We have already seen in DT 19: 10-21 with the establishment of cities of refuge, God takes into account the needs of a person who commits involuntary manslaughter. We've also seen in LV 17: 11 and HE 9: 22 the importance of blood to life and forgiveness of sins. One keen bit of evidence of God's heart-attitude toward human life is seen in GN 1: 27 in which He makes the point, through Moses, that we are created in His own image. That wouldn't have happened had it not been for God's love of His creation.
God built into us a desire for preservation of our own lives. His teaching is replete with comments about justice and fairness in the adjudication of legal disputes. If we look at modern law, we can see codes built into it to deter judges from taking bribes and a mandate to curb indignation of a judge who gets too involved in a case, leading to unjust retribution against the guilty party. God's laws are full of His efforts to deter the committing of crimes. His laws are designed to hold a person accountable for his behavior. The heart of man wants to get away with murder and when caught, his first response is to seek mercy. In some ways, this points attention to the difference between God's law where he might find mercy, and the old system of law where he never would.
The title of this segment, "Love Bases God's Law," is intended to draw attention to some issues like opportunities for forgiveness and the teaching of humility in raising children which seem more prominent in the NT. In actuality, the legalistic approach taken by OT rabbis and teachers had little to do with God's will. The Lord's will has been the same from the beginning. So, it would be highly improper to say that forgiveness and humility weren't a part of OT teaching. The problem was in the execution of that teaching. Christ is not voiding God's teaching when He instructs us to "turn the other cheek" in MT 5: 39, rather He is calling us to a higher law. When Paul is writing to his protege, Timothy, in 1 TIM 1: 8-10, he speaks about for whom God wrote the laws. "We know that the Law is good if it is used as it should be used. It must be remembered, of course, that the laws are made, not for good people, but for lawbreakers and criminals, for the godless and sinful, for those who are not religious or spiritual, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for sexual perverts, for kidnappers, for those who lie and give false testimony or who do anything else contrary to sound doctrine." Verse 11 of that same passage makes it abundantly clear from where this teaching comes. "That teaching is found in the Gospel that was entrusted to me to announce, the Good News from the glorious and blessed God."
I suspect that police, courts, etc. won't be necessary in heaven, because of the principle of REV 21: 27, "But nothing that is impure will enter the city, nor anyone who does shameful things or tells lies. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of the living will enter the city." The denizens of heaven will have already learned and practiced the new commandment of JN 13: 34-35, "And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are My disciples." I feel compelled to remind us repeatedly that the greatest act of love ever to happen was modeled by God when He gave us His only Son on the cross, so that we might have the opportunity to break the bonds of sin and be saved. His Son paid the ransom for our souls. I also ask: where would we be if humility and forgiveness never existed? The answer is clear. We would be forever locked in a prison of sinfulness, one from which there is no escape. Moreover, we would be the possessors of one-way tickets to spiritual death. Yes, Dear Ones, our God is a God of love.
PRAYER: O Lord, if each of us were to review our own lives, we would find in them past mistakes and character flaws that are nothing short of shameful. In my life, I see past arrogance, selfishness, property damage to express uncontrolled anger, and more that I don't care to discuss in a public forum. Without Your presence in our lives, without Your forgiveness and salvation, without Your love, our lives would be worthless and hopeless. In my own family, grudges held have caused enormous emotional chaos, chaos which has reached down over the generations and in some cases, is still in progress. None of this would have happened had the people involved understood Your laws, seen the love behind them, and obeyed them in letter and in spirit. I come before Your mighty throne today on behalf of my family and all those families who are not living lives in Your grace. Regardless of the reasons, I plead for Your intervention through the Holy Spirit to stop these grudges and wrongful behaviors. You alone, Most High Lord, have the power to stop the stubbornness and disobedience that is in progress in these families. You alone have crafted a system of laws based on love with no evil motives. If mankind is willing to submit to Your authority and obey Your laws, all of this wrongdoing and evil attitude would be a thing of the past. I pray on behalf of children born into these dysfunctional families, families in which the evil one has a stronghold, that they will find release from the certain road to spiritual death upon which they are thrust through not fault of their own. Painful as it is, I must accept Your decision not to allow children to be born into some families from which there is no turning back from their sinfulness. I acknowledge that Satan can only do His dirty work if humans allow him to have sway over their lives. I beseech you to cause these people to wake up to that fact and take faithful and decisive action to rid themselves of these strongholds. You have told us that with faith in Christ, we are given the power and authority to use it to battle the adversary to victory in Christ's name [EPH 1: 18-20]. It is against our human natures to love, which is why You commanded the Holy Spirit to meld with the human spirits of those who repent and come to faith and then to call those believers Your children [RO 8: 16-17]. For those willing to faithfully love this way and share in Christ's suffering, You will share His glory with them. What a great promise from a Deity Who always keeps His promises! To You belongs our worship, praise, thanks, and all the glory [PS 115: 1]! In Christ's holy name, amen.
I'm led to continue discussing how we know that love is the basis of God's laws next week. The spotlight will be turned on comparing practice with theory in the matter of understanding the true intent of God's laws. Recently, news anchor Peter Jennings passed away from lung cancer. This death caught the nation by surprise. At the same time, all over the country families are losing loved ones from a variety of causes, but these people don't get the headlines that someone famous does. The question comes to mind, what is the most important thing about each of their earthly lives? That question is one that should concern us all, because it is the answer to that question that will be used by Christ to judge whether or not that person is worthy to be rewarded with a blissful heavenly eternity. Earlier in the prayer, I raised the issue of our sinful pasts. With faith in Christ, they are no longer important, because He gives us forgiveness and even forgets our past sins [HE 8: 12]. What matters now is how we live our lives after coming to faith in Christ. This is a matter of our willingness to submit to Him even at times when His commands take us out of our comfortable zones or come at a time we deem inconvenient. Knowing this before our physical deaths is a blessing, because we are given the time (assuming the Lord tarries before commanding the last call to be given, 1 THESS 4 :13-17) to learn to be faithfully obedient to Him. This willingness to make changes necessary to achieve this goal matters greatly to us and to the Lord. He wants to bring as many of us as possible that God gave Him home to the Father [JN 6: 39-40]. We must remember that the Lord never calls us to a goal that He hasn't first equipped us to achieve. The rest is up to us. Just as God values human life, He also loves each of us in a way superior to any way a human can. That is why I'm concluding today's message with PS 117: 1-2, "Praise to the Lord, all nations! Praise him, all peoples! His love for us is strong, and His faithfulness is eternal." Praise to the Lord!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn