12 December 2010

Psalm 63, 98; Isa. 13:6-13; Heb. 12:18-29; John 3:22-30

The Lord’s judgment will wipe away everything. When we pray for the coming of the kingdom of God we need to realize that our prayer is for the judgment of sin and the world. That realization should do two things, cause us to shudder with fear and cause us to emulate John the Baptist. The Lord would not have us ignorant of His ways and the horror of the day of judgment, He wants us to recognize that total devastation will precede the new creation. He would, however, have us tell the world of that judgment and the means of salvation so that no one would be left innocent for reason of not knowing. Do we love the world enough to tell it these things?

John’s humility never fails to embarrass me. He knows who he is and, more importantly, he knows who Jesus is. The basis of his humility is knowledge of Jesus. The disciples seemed to struggle with this reality up to the end, constantly arguing about who was greatest, even in light of the revelations they had received. In the shadow of Jesus, nothing and no one else matters. Only He is truly great, but we persist in comparing ourselves to others when there is only one standard. Until Jesus came on the scene, John was pointing forward but now that Jesus has been revealed, John realizes that His ministry has been fulfilled and Jesus must increase, even if it means John decreases. Do we point to Jesus and away from ourselves as John did?

The writer tells us two things that seem to be irreconcilable, that we can approach this God, unlike the people in Exodus 19, but that our God is a consuming fire. Which is it? He has given us access to Himself but on one significant condition; that we come through Jesus. He is the God of judgment but He is also the God who loved us enough to die for us. The people at Sinai were right to fear Him, He told them to fear Him and gave them demonstration of His power, but that was not enough to prevent them from sinning with the golden calf. In Jesus we have been given a revelation and demonstration of His love, but Jesus also spoke of God’s judgment. We have a tame God in our culture and sometimes in our churches and we need to recognize that He is not so loveable as to excuse sin.

Oh sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
The LORD has made known his salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.