Hebrews 4:12 “For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitude of the heart.”
There is a great need for the Word of God to judge what sinful human hearts are thinking. During the ages myriads of human misinterpretations and misapplications of that Word seem to have caused the sword to become blunt. Of course that is not possible. Thank the Divine Author for that.
A most holy God will bring frightful judgment on the sinful Nations and sinful Israel. But it will never touch the Church of the Lord Jesus. Every catastrophe in this world today is not judgment! It is amazing grace. God in Heaven desires this world to know that He is still there, on His throne. When many severe calamities are striking the world, its people like to talk about ‘mother nature’. But ‘mother nature’ is being used by her great Creator, GOD ! Apart from His children, is anybody else in the world taking notice of HIM?
There are vast differences between the Nations, Israel and the Church of the Lord Jesus. Amongst the Nations Israel is a peculiar nation. The Church is not spiritual Israel. Never has been. What her God has been saying about and to Israel is not inevitably the same as His Word to and about His Church. But from His dealings with each of the three categories we will get to know Him more intimately and that indeed will be a precious privilege.
Now first let us see, as briefly as possible, the origin and the end-destination of the Nations.
Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that He had made. And it was very good, and there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day”
Genesis 6:6 “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil, all the time. The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth and His heart was filled with pain.”
God’s beautiful creation, very good in His sight, it was spoilt. The apostle Paul tells us how that happened.
Romans 5:12 “Sin entered the world through one man.”
It was not Adam’s sin that ruined God’s creation. It was SIN in its own independent entity, which brought in the calamity. SIN is a powerful master (Romans 6:14). SIN reigns in death (Romans 5:21). SIN is a slave-master (Romans 6:16). SIN does hold its slaves (Romans 6:20). SIN seizes opportunity (Romans 7:11). SIN produces sins (Romans 7:17). Using Adam as its vehicle SIN entered God’s creation and death through sin. Adam and Eve became sinful when they submitted themselves to (master) SIN. We all know it, an apple-tree will never grow bananas and sinful parents will never bear sin free children.
“Therefore” says the Apostle Paul
Romans 5:12 “Therefore just as SIN entered the world and death through sin and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.”
Humanity was born in sin and humanity is sinning. On the Cross of Jesus, God held humanity guilty on two accounts. Did lay the penalty of sin on His one and dear Son. He being their substitute, God could then forgive repentant sinners.
Over time Adam’s family decided to exercise more and more independence from their Maker. Until His heart was grieved and filled with pain. In the midst of that corrupt world, all its evil causing grief and pain to the heart of God, there was one sinful man who, in the eyes of God, was righteous. We read about Noah in Genesis, chapters 6-9.
Genesis 6:9 “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. And . . . he walked with God.”
Now please forgive me. I imagine they not only walked, but also talked. I think I can hear Noah saying, ‘Lord, You are Most Holy; how can You walk with me, a miserable sinner? You must know what I am like.’
I fancy the Lord’s answer, ‘you see Noah, compared to your mates you are not doing badly, without blame, as a matter of fact. But Noah, how do you show up against the background of holiness? You are sinful. The more you walk with Me, the more you will see your sinfulness, but more than that, you will see what I am like.’
From this one sinful man, righteous in the sight of God, the Nations came into being. Sinful nations.
As they walked and talked, the Lord told Noah to build an ark and how to do it. For 120 years God waited patiently, while Noah built and preached (1 Peter 3:20 / Genesis 6:8 / 2 Peter 2:5). For 120 years Noah learned what God is like, a righteous God, full of merciful GRACE. This righteous and merciful God would allow for seven more days (Genesis 7:4). Seven more days of grace! Opportunity for sinners to repent! Sadly, not a single soul would, not one. Then, on one fateful day, the Lord Himself shut Noah, his family and the animals into the ark (Genesis 7:11) and shut everybody else out. Nobody now outside the ark would escape His frightful judgment. Noah would learn how holiness must deal with unrepentant sinfulness. He would discover more of what God is like, delightful in patient grace and frightening in righteous judgment.
The sons of Noah were sinful like their father. Gradually, after the flood, they made a new start on a now purified earth.
Genesis 10:32 “These are the clans of Noah’s sons according to their lines of descent within their NATIONS. From these the NATIONS spread over the earth after the flood.”
The population on the earth began to increase, developing into the nations. Many of these nations have come and gone but from the first Book of the Bible, the nations are mentioned numerous times until eighteen occasions in the last Book, the Book of Revelation.
In due time God would choose one nation, sinful as it would be, to be His own. It will be precious to Him, for all eternity to come. To bring that part of His plan into effect God started again with one man, who walked with God, Abraham.
For a moment let us see about the end-destination of the nations. They had to come into being because it was in the plan of the eternal God. After the end of the ages of man, God will have nations in His new and eternal world. In His righteousness He will then rule over the nations. Peter writes about it and the Book of Revelation confirms it.
2 Peter 3:10 “In keeping with His promises we are looking forward to a new Heaven and A NEW EARTH, the home of righteousness.”
Revelation 21: 1 “Then I saw a NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
Verse 23 “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
Verse 24 “ The NATIONS will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it.”
No comments:
Post a Comment