Good Morning Friends,
“I saw in heaven another great and marvelous
sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues -- last, because with them God’s
wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire
and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his
image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God and
sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: ‘Great and
marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King
of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For
you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your
righteous acts have been revealed.’” (Revelation 15:1-4)
Revelation includes descriptions of God’s
wrath being poured out on the world. His wrath brings great pain and suffering
to the people of the world who choose not to follow Him.
While God’s wrath is being poured out, those
who followed God lift their voices in a song of praise to Him in heaven. It
includes this phrase, “Just and true are your ways.”
God’s wrath, although horrible to see, is
just. Justice has always been and always will be an unchangeable characteristic
of God. Sin must be punished, God’s justice requires it.
For those who follow God, our sin, too, must
be punished. God’s justice requires it. And the full weight of the punishment
our sins deserve was poured out on Jesus as He hung on the cross. Jesus’
suffering and death satisfied God’s justice for our sins so that we don’t have
to face the punishment our sins deserve.
For those who choose not to follow Jesus
there still must be justice. Their sins must be punished. Revelation
demonstrates just how horrible sin is from God’s perspective. In the pouring
out of the wrath of God we see how much we deserve for our sin, how much we
have escaped because of the sacrifice of Jesus.
It’s horrible to see for those who do not
follow Jesus -- and motivation for us to share the gospel with all that we can.
It’s also powerful motivation to give thanks to Jesus for what He has saved us
from.
His, by Grace,
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment