One violent act begets another. Violence sometimes carries its own punishment.”
–Elmer Kelton (The Far Canyon)
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”
–2 Corinthians 8:9 (NKJV)
—————————————
Several weeks ago I discussed the concept of God’s omniscience–all-knowing. God knows everything; everything past, present, and future; every thing that is or could be. But knowing all, does that mean experiencing all? Now, I don’t pretend to begin to know and understand the mysteries of God and the supernatural, but let’s look at a couple of things.
Death, for example, that arch-enemy of man that came from the Fall. Death, that mysterious departure from life into eternity. Death was not created, but is the natural result of sin. “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23). In James we read, “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (1:15, NKJV).
Death is the opposite of life, therefore how can God know death? One thing to remember, even though death is the opposite of life, it never denotes nonexistence (Vine). On the scene: Jesus, the God-man. Fully God, fully man; it was Jesus who understood death. It was Jesus who defeated death for Paul wrote, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55, NKJV).
Death–defeated by Jesus Christ, and thus when we come to the end of life and face that mystery, and to us it is still a mystery, we can face it with hope and trust. “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through the Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11, NKJV) Death no longer is that enemy to be fear; it was defeated by Jesus Christ.
Sin, God doesn’t know sin. He is not the author or creator of sin for He will not, cannot, do anything contrary to His holy character. James tells us that “God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one” (1:13, NKJV) Light cannot produce darkness. Sin was found in Lucifer, “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you” (Ezekiel 28:15, NKJV). The conclusion I draw, feeble it may be, is that it is free-will that brought and continues to bring about sin. Of course today, man is born with the sin nature thanks to Adam.
Sin, God does not know sin–on the scene, Jesus, the God-man. Isaiah prophesied this about the Messiah from chapter 53:
3 — He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 — Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 — But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His striped we are healed.
6 — All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (NKJV)
God’s justice and holiness demanded that sin, in all of its form, be punished. Judgment must come. Jesus took His wrath on the cross and bore the sins of the world. Paul writes, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us…” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV). As Jesus hung on the cross the guilt of all was placed upon Him. It forced the Father to send His wrath; it caused the Father to turn His back on His “only begotten Son.” God knows sin, because Jesus became sin.
I don’t know the deep things of God; I do know, however, that I have a free-will, the ability to sin or the choice to believe in Jesus and His supreme sacrifice. The punishment for sin was dealt with at the cross. Take advantage of that if you have not already done so. Paul proclaims, “…Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2, NKJV) Not tomorrow, for you might not see tomorrow’s sunrise, but today, now.
—————————————
Several weeks ago I discussed the concept of God’s omniscience–all-knowing. God knows everything; everything past, present, and future; every thing that is or could be. But knowing all, does that mean experiencing all? Now, I don’t pretend to begin to know and understand the mysteries of God and the supernatural, but let’s look at a couple of things.
Death, for example, that arch-enemy of man that came from the Fall. Death, that mysterious departure from life into eternity. Death was not created, but is the natural result of sin. “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23). In James we read, “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (1:15, NKJV).
Death is the opposite of life, therefore how can God know death? One thing to remember, even though death is the opposite of life, it never denotes nonexistence (Vine). On the scene: Jesus, the God-man. Fully God, fully man; it was Jesus who understood death. It was Jesus who defeated death for Paul wrote, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55, NKJV).
Death–defeated by Jesus Christ, and thus when we come to the end of life and face that mystery, and to us it is still a mystery, we can face it with hope and trust. “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through the Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11, NKJV) Death no longer is that enemy to be fear; it was defeated by Jesus Christ.
Sin, God doesn’t know sin. He is not the author or creator of sin for He will not, cannot, do anything contrary to His holy character. James tells us that “God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one” (1:13, NKJV) Light cannot produce darkness. Sin was found in Lucifer, “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you” (Ezekiel 28:15, NKJV). The conclusion I draw, feeble it may be, is that it is free-will that brought and continues to bring about sin. Of course today, man is born with the sin nature thanks to Adam.
Sin, God does not know sin–on the scene, Jesus, the God-man. Isaiah prophesied this about the Messiah from chapter 53:
3 — He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 — Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 — But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His striped we are healed.
6 — All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (NKJV)
God’s justice and holiness demanded that sin, in all of its form, be punished. Judgment must come. Jesus took His wrath on the cross and bore the sins of the world. Paul writes, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us…” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV). As Jesus hung on the cross the guilt of all was placed upon Him. It forced the Father to send His wrath; it caused the Father to turn His back on His “only begotten Son.” God knows sin, because Jesus became sin.
I don’t know the deep things of God; I do know, however, that I have a free-will, the ability to sin or the choice to believe in Jesus and His supreme sacrifice. The punishment for sin was dealt with at the cross. Take advantage of that if you have not already done so. Paul proclaims, “…Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2, NKJV) Not tomorrow, for you might not see tomorrow’s sunrise, but today, now.