Monthly Archives: November 2024

GOD WILL MAKE A WAY

Christian Life, ,

Picture the scene…upwards of three million people, including thousands of young children and all their worldly possessions and livestock cluttering a small space… a noisy, restless, frightened, unruly mob of slaves, trapped on a piece of beach jutting into a very deep and very wide stretch of sea.

Behind them, a vast army of well-trained soldiers, drumming war-horse’s hooves raising clouds of dust, rolling chariot wheels closing the gap with frightening speed. Sights and sounds so terrifying that the Israelites are almost insane with anguish! No escape! What could they do?

Exodus 14:9 NLT
[9] “The Egyptians chased after them with all the forces in Pharaoh’s army—all his horses and chariots, his charioteers, and his troops. The Egyptians caught up with the people of Israel as they were camped beside the shore near Pi-hahiroth, across from Baal-zephon.”

In a panic, they turn on their leader. All the promises of freedom and a new life! Will they end up as fodder for the Egyptians or food for the fish?

Moses has no one to consult but the God he hardly knew. After all, they were there, the whole motley crowd, because of Him. Moses had followed God’s instructions to the letter. Now this!

God warned him, before they left Egypt, that this would happen. Now it’s for real. With the growing confidence he didn’t feel, Moses reassures the people.

Exodus 14:13-14 NLT
[13] But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. [14] The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

He calls out into the wind, “God, help!”

God responds with seemingly stupid instructions! This is no Dunkirk! He doesn’t miraculously send rescue craft to ferry the people across the gap. He doesn’t send a squadron of angels to fly them over the sea. He instructs Moses to stretch out his staff over the water. What staff? His walking stick, of all things? Of what use is that!

Somehow, the Egyptian horses and chariots, threateningly and frighteningly close, slow down as dusk falls. The soldiers peer into the dark but they can’t see their prey. A fire, small at first but rising ever higher and growing ever brighter, blocks their view. They can’t advance on their quarry. They will have to wait until daylight.

The wind beguns to blow, a breeze slowly gathering strength until a howling gale frightens the people into clumps of trembling flesh, families huddled together for comfort and warmth.

The night passes slowly, both parties anxiously awaiting the dawn. The Egyptians are restless, eager to finish their mission. The Israelites are frightened and uncertain. What will happen when morning comes?

Dawn finally breaks over the scene. Viewed from above, millions of tiny figures milling around, preparing for action. The soldiers….rearing to go, hindered only by the fire that still blocks their way. The slaves, astonished and hopefulas daylight reveals a wide path through the sea, walls of shimmering water miraculously carved out by the raging wind. Can they trust the water to stand up on either side as they hurry through the gap towards safety? Surprisingly, the path is dry under their feet.

Moses urges them on. “Move along there! Hurry up! Time’s running out!”

As the hours pass, the mob empties from one shore to the other like sand passing through an hour glass. The soldiers peer through the fiery curtain only to watch their prey disappearing from sight. Finally, the last groups leave the beach and take to the path through the sea…the fire slowly dies down and the restless horses are free to pursue. Dust rises under chariot wheels… the army chases down the stragglers hurrying along between watery walls.

Suddenly, war cries turn to cries of terror. The walls of water begin to collapse. Instead of dry ground, waves crash down on Pharaoh’s helpless army, slowly swallowing chariots, horses, and soldiers as though they had never been. Now an arm, a leg, a chariot wheel, rises up and sinks beneath the water.

The Israelite mob watches in amazement as the sea returns to calm. The beach they have vacated is empty. The army? Vanished! They are now safe, on the other side, Egypt only a distant memory. Just as God had said, they are free.

“The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.”

Really? A seemingly impossible promise… but God pulled it off.

However, despite all the mighty miracles God did to rescue His people from Egypt and to settle them in the Promised Land, they never really believed in Him. Every time God tested their faith, they forgot and failed. Why? Was it because their hearts were unchanged?

When we believed in Jesus, He gave us new hearts and put His Spirit in us. He did a miracle in us that outstrips anything He ever did for Israel. Paul discovered a truth so glorious that what God has done for us through Jesus should overshadow every test we encounter in our lives.

Romans 8:31-32 NLT
[31] “What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? [32] Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?”

We have what Israel didn’t have, the cross of Jesus! The cross stands as a guarantee and a beacon of hope in every trial. Look at the cross! It speaks of God’s love and grace so vast that it outshines even the biggest of life’s adversities.

No matter what comes our way, we can sing Don Moen’s song with unshakeable confidence in our God to make a way through our “Red Sea”.

“God will make a way
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way, He will make a way….

By a roadway in the wilderness, He’ll lead me
Rivers in the desert will I see
Heaven and earth will fade but His Word will still remain
And He will do something new today…

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Don Moen
God Will Make a Way lyrics © Integrity’s Hosanna! Music, Ninth Avenue Music

If God could do that for the Israelites, imagine what He can do for us when we trust Him.

WHAT IF GOD HAS NOT SAID…?

Christian Life, ,

I can think of many things that God said in His Word that have given us reason to have confidence in the outcome of our faith in Him. Take for example, His stance on sin. What if He has never said, “Your sins and your iniquities I will remember no more.”

Jeremiah 31:34 NIV
[34] “No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

What a promise, spoken to Israel in the Old Covenant and ratified by Jesus in the New!

God’s explanation for suffering is another huge “light bulb” for us in our daily struggles. Problem is, first, that we so often ask questions without looking for answers in the Word and second, we don’t realise how serious God is about making us holy.

People have written books without number about suffering, to justify believers’ bad experiences in life. Unbelievers hold God responsible for their troubles. “Why did God let this happen…why did He do this to me?” as though God made them sin with its consequences so that He could punish them…a very good excuse not to believe in Him!

We don’t need “wise theologians” to write tomes to exonerate God for suffering when God Himself gave us His reason for our hardships.

Hebrews 12:5-11 NLT
[5] And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. [6] For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” [7] As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? [8] If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. [9] Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? [10] For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. [11] No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”

Sin is a serious issue to God. He sent His own beloved Son to take care of the debt humanity owes Him for sin. He left no stone unturned to save us from our own self-destruction. He explained the importance of dying to our old self-gratifying ways. Our station in eternity depends on overcoming the ravages of our old nature.

We know what happens when children are left to themselves, when parents indulge their every whim and fail to train them to be mature and responsible adults. Wise Solomon had much to say about training children. Perhaps he saw his own father’s indulgence and the consequences.

Proverbs 29:15 NLT
[15] “To discipline a child produces wisdom, but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child.”

Proverbs 23:13-14 NIV
[13] “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish them with the rod, they will not die. [14] Punish them with the rod and save them from death.”

If our natural children need drastic measures to keep them from destroying themselves, how much more do God’s children need discipline to save us from eternal loss.

Romans 8:12-13 NIV
[12]” Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. [13] For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”

What does God mean by “dying”and “living”? There is an eternal realm, the kingdom of God, in which we shall have a part if we learn, in this life, to submit to and obey our heavenly Father. He stated clearly, more than once, that without holiness, no one will see Him. Every time we sin thoughtlessly, we move farther from intimacy with God and nearer to eternal separation from Him.

Sin cuts us off from fellowship with God. If we persist in living sinful lives, Jesus said, He will eventually disown us and send us away.

Matthew 7:22-23 NLT
[22] “On judgment day, many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ [23] But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ “

However, what if God had not told us why He allows us to suffer in this life! We would come up with all sorts of explanations and justifications but never really know God’s purpose for our suffering. We would not understand how much God hates sin, how sin prevents us from having fellowship with Him, our holy God, and what measures He has taken to ensure that we are ready for our role in His eternal kingdom.

Knowing God’s purpose for our hardships makes all the difference between resistence and rebellion or even fear of punishment, and our willingness to submit to His discipline without question.

I think that the worst way in which we can react to suffering is to blame the devil! We even think that Satan is more powerful than God or that he can harm us without God’s permission or intervention. The book of Job should put paid to that lie!

The Apostle Paul discovered the best and most reassuring solution to the issue of suffering.

Romans 8:28-29 NIV
[28] “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. [29] For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Armed with this assurance, of both God’s unassailable sovereignty and His glorious purpose, suffering and hardship take on a new meaning in this life.

We are God’s dearly-loved children. Our suffering is not random, mindless, or meaningless. He is training us for our role in eternity. He wants sons and daughters like His own Son. He will do what it takes to make us holy and like Jesus. He has promised us not only grace to endure and overcome but also assurance that He Himself will finish what He started.

God will test every facet of our faith in Him through trials of every kind until we pass every test with unshakeable confidence in His love and goodness, no matter what He calls us to suffer.

Armed with knowledge and understanding, we can embrace our suffering with joy because we are absolutely secure in God’s love.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV
[16] “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. [17] For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. [18] So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

MASSIVE CHANGE IS COMING!

Bible Study, ,

I wish I could say that massive change is coming to our country. For us, our lives in South Africa are teetering on the brink of disaster. From our human perspective, it all depends on who can shout the loudest, those who made the mess but think they can still rule, or those who think they can do better. Some are proving they can do better. Others think they can but have neither expertise or experience to do it.

For us who have a hope far greater than what our fellow humans can offer, we know that massive change is coming. When? We hope soon but have no idea when.

What is the source of our hope? Not the empty promises of fickle humans. Not the grandiose words of fools. Not the nauseating repetition of hot air by lying, thieving politicians. Not even the well-meaning hopes of fallible men.

We pin our hopes on the infallible word of a faithful and all-powerful God. How do we know that His promises are reliable?

He said it and He proved it.

Numbers 23:19 NLT
[19] “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?”

This claim has been tested and answered innumerable times both in His Word and in human experience.

His Word has promises, from beginning to end, that He will restore what was broken and defiled. Included in that promise is the coming to earth of the person on whom all our hopes are pinned.

This person, Jesus, came exactly on time and in the way God had predicted, and did precisely and perfectly everything that God said He would do. Jesus has spoken God’s final word. He set the entire universe on a new course to restoration, which will happen instantly when He returns to set up His eternal kingdom on earth.

Peter warned his readers that some people would laugh and scoff at this promise. Why should they believe that anything will change, they say, when nothing has changed in thousands of years? Of what value are the words of the scoffers when we measure them against God’s words?

2 Peter 3:3-7 NLT
[3] “Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. [4] They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” [5] They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. [6] Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. [7] And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.”

Ungodly people think that God is as fickle as they are, that His Word is empty and unreliable. Trouble is that they don’t understand that God measures time differently from the way we do. He is outside of time and views every event in our timeline as “now”. When He has said something, it’s as good as done.

2 Peter 3:8-10 NLT
[8] “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. [9] The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”

However, time will run out, just as He has said.

[10] “But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.”

Did you get Peter’s point? There is mercy in God’s delay! He is giving people as much time as possible to repent and turn to Him but…

Even God’s patience will run out because He has a goal to reach and a purpose to fulfil. Finally, time will end. Massive change will happen in an instant. Man has taken thousands of years to mess the earth to the state it’s in now. God will fix it faster than we can blink.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NLT
[51] “But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! [52] It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.”

Not only will we shed our mortal bodies and be clothed in immortality, but the universe itself will also be transformed.

His Word, like a fire, will consume every thought, word, and deed that belong to this world system, extinguishing, in an instant, every philosophy, world view, and belief that is based on th devil’s lies since he is NOT God.

Satan and his minions, together with every person who has bought into his lies will be summarily removed and banished forever from God’s realm.

Revelation 20:1, 10, 12, 15 NLT
[1] Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand.
[10] Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever…
[12] I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books…
[15] And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Unlike “hope” in human experience, hope in God’s promises is secure and infallible. Look at the end result of the massive change that is surely coming.

Revelation 21:1-5 NLT
[1] “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. [2] And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. [3] I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. [4] He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” [5] And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”

Did you get that? John saw, in a vision, everything that God said He would do. DONE! From heaven’s viewpoint in eternity, it’s already finished. From earth’s perspective, God said it will be done so, it will be done.

Revelation 21:6-7 NLT
[6] “And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. [7] All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.”

What of us, God’s children,
who struggle with our imperfections in this life. How can we ever be perfectly holy as He is as long as, we are by our old sinful nature? We have God’s promises, first, that He is working in us to prefect His holiness and, second, that He will complete the process in an instant when we see Jesus. Imagine that!

1 John 3:2 NLT
[2] “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.”

Instant transformation!

What should our response to these infallible promises be?

1 John 3:3 NLT
[3] “And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.”

Oh yes! Massive change IS coming. We can lean on God’s promise, we can pin our hopes on His Word, we can live in this mess knowing that, without a doubt, God will press the “reset button” and begin again. How we revel in this hope!

LOVE AND FEAR, MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE

Bible Study, ,

1 John 4:18 NIV
[18] “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

I’ve thought long and hard about John’s statement. Why did he contrast love and fear? Why not love and hate? Why is our love for God imperfect because of fear? Why are we afraid of punishment?

Let’s go back to Jesus’ final words on the cross, according to John.

John 19:30 NIV
[30] “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Looking at Jesus’s words from a theological perspective, we could draw out a wealth of meaning from this one Greek word, “tetelestai”! However, when we view its meaning from the essential purpose for His death, we must conclude that Jesus meant, “Sin is finished.” He came to die in our place to pay the debt for our sin.

Which sin did He finish? Since the Bible states, more than once, that Jesus died “before the foundation of the world”, His death must be the payment for all sin from Adam’s first transgression until the end of time.

Revelation 13:8 NIV
[8] “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.”

Does this mean that God dealt with the issue of sin before He created the world? Did God forgive all sin before He made Adam? God is outside of time, therefore all “time”, for Him, is now. The fact of Jesus’ death in history and its effects, span the whole of time. Therefore, He could forgive sin in the Old Covenant, pictured by animal sacrifices, because of Jesus’ death even though, from the human point of view, He was yet to die in time.

I know this is difficult for us to understand because we cannot think and experience outside of time. However, we must receive this truth by faith since it is God’s Word.

This brings me back to our Scripture. If Jesus’ death provides forgiveness for all sin for all time, we are called to trust in God’s perfect love no matter what and whenever stuff happens to us in this life. When we experience hardship, pain, or loss, we must learn to view these adversities through God’s love. This is not punishment. This is discipline. Why?

The writer to the Hebrews assures us that God is treating us as sons. Human fathers discipline their children to correct wrongdoing and train them to live responsibly, as an expression of their love. How much greater is God’s love for His children! He uses trials, suffering, and hardship to guide us towards holiness because, without holiness, we cannot have fellowship with Him, and we will not “see Him”.

Hebrews 12:9-11, 14 NIV
[9] “Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! [10] They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. [11] No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it…
[14] Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

If we still insist on thinking that God is punishing us for some or other sin we have committed now or in the past, we immediately cancel our faith in Jesus’s words, “It is finished.” We have denied the truth! We are believing a lie! Now, the fear of punishment, which is Satan’s lie, replaces our confidence in God’s love.

The only way we can become mature in our faith in God’s love is to cling to the truth that, even if we sin, God has made provision, forgiven our sin, cleansed us from sin’s pollution, and will always love and treat us as His sons and daughters.

Does this mean that any sin I may commit in the future has already been forgiven? Apparently, yes! Does this mean that sin doesn’t make any difference to my standing with God? Yes and no!

Yes! Sin affects my fellowship with the Father and with His children but, no, it does not alter my standing as His son or daughter.

1 John 1:5-7 NIV
[5] “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. [6] If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

Again, it’s John who assures us that God has made provision to forgive and restore our fellowship with Him. Jesus is not only the sacrifice but also the Advocate who presents His blood to the Father as His solution for our sin.

1 John 2:1-2 NIV
[1] “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. [2] He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

So…

1 John 1:9 NIV
[9]”If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Confessing our sin doesn’t provide for forgiveness. Jesus did that on the cross. Confession restores fellowship with the Father and with our fellow believers.

Our love for God matures, when we trust His love for us, no matter what. Our thoughts, focused on God’s unfailing and unconditional love, drive out fear by replacing them with God’s love.

So, Paul was convinced, through his own experience that God’s love was infallible and impenetrable, no matter what.

Romans 8:31, 35, 37-39 NIV
[31] “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?…
[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?..
[37] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, [39] neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

THINKING GOD’S THOUGHTS

Christian Life, ,

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV
[8] “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. [9] “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

What Isaiah wrote centuries ago, repeatedly jolts me into remembering that God’s thoughts and ways and mine are vastly different, as far apart as heaven from earth.

Let’s take for example, God’s thoughts and ways about judging. I find myself falling into a pattern of thinking when I am confronted with what I consider to be “sin” in myself or in a fellow believer. Accusing! I am shocked, outraged, “How could I, he, she, do that!” Judging! “Don’t I, they know what they are doing? Offending God! Breaking His law?” Condemning! “I, you are in big trouble.”

It takes me quite a while and lots of rethinking to attune myself to God’s thoughts. I think that the biggest difference between the way God and I think is that I focus on behaviour while God focuses on the person.

Let me explain. Even when I sin, God views me as His “son”. God doesn’t come down on me with a big stick. He treats me as His child. I have done wrong, yes, but I must be corrected, not destroyed, and shown the right way, not condemned.

When the Holy Spirit deals with my sin, He doesn’t tell me HOW BAD I am. That’s what the devil says. He tells me WHO I am, a child of God who is holy and beloved. He holds up the measure and shows me how to reach it. He offers the remedy for my sin, the cleansing blood of Jesus, and His power to overcome temptation. He teaches me how to “walk in the light” and draws me gently back into fellowship with the Father and the Son.

David celebrated this way of God’s dealings with him that warmed his heart towards Him. God isn’t like us. He restores; He does not annihilate. Unlike us, His judgment is designed to correct and to reinstate His sons and daughters to their favoured position in His family, not to alienate us from Him.

Psalms 103:8-14 NIV
[8] “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. [9] He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; [10] he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. [11] For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; [12] as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. [13] As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; [14] for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”

The great difference between the way God thinks and the way we think is that He knows that He is in covenant with us. His ways are always in harmony with who he is, holy love. God made a covenant with Jesus which Jesus signed with His own blood, and gave Him to be the covenant to people. Whoever believes in Jesus is united with Him and participates in all the terms of that covenant.

By contrast, we quickly forget that we are in covenant with one another in Christ, in His family through Jesus. We are quick to throw stones instead of applying balm to the damaged soul.

The foundation of God’s covenant is His “chesed”, an untranslatable Hebrew word which means that He promises to be faithful to all that His love is and provides in a his covenant. This word is often translated “mercy” which includes the truth that what He does, He does, not because of our worth but despite our worthlessness.

When humans judge, we start with the offender’s behaviour and go on to what to do about it, ending with punishment of some sort. When God judges, He looks, first, at who did the offending, and what to do about it, ending with forgiveness and restoration.

Since God has made His Son the second party in the covenant so that He is both participant and mediator, Jesus IS the New Covenant. We trust Him to mediate everything that the covenant provides. Therefore, when we sin, we display unbelief in the one who provides everything we need in that Covenant, by disregarding His instructions.

This means that all God’s judgment hangs on the way we live out our faith in Jesus. If we disobey His commandments, we fail to believe Him and we fail to love Him. All sin, then is the fruit of our unbelief in Jesus.

Jesus could say, then…

John 8:31 NIV
[31] “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples….”

And…

John 3:18 NIV
[18] “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

The character of Jesus and our adherence to it, is God’s criterion for judgment. If we sin, Jesus Himself is our advocate and, through the Holy Spirit, He forgives and guides us back to His way.

If we sin wilfully and deliberately, we have no one to represent us because Jesus’ Word is our judge. His standard is righteousness and His method is His Word.

John 12:47-50 NIV
[47] “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. [48] There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. [49] For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. [50] I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

This way of dealing with sin, ours or others, is the way God wants us to think, so that we maintain fellowship with Him and with one another in His family. John called this, “walking in the light.” Thinking God’s thoughts and following His ways will guard our hearts from acting in a way that splinters our fellowship and treats people as enemies, not family.