July 19th

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Isaiah 34-35, Micah 2-5

The difference between Isaiah 34 (the judgement of the wicked) and 35 (the redemption of the faithful) is incredible.

The word pictures are amazing - frightening on the one hand, and hope-filled on the other.

For the wicked....
He will totally destroy them , he will give them over to slaughter. Their slain will be thrown out, their dead bodies will send up a stench; the mountains will be soaked with their blood. All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll (Isaiah 34:2b-4a)
The sword of the Lord is bathed in blood (34:6a)
It will not be quenched night and day; its smoke will rise forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever pass through it again. (34:10)

But for the faithful....
The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. (35:1)
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. (35:5-6a)
Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. (35:6b)
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it...But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. (35:8, 9b-10)

Wow, what a stark difference between the two!

As we've been going through this year's readings, as I've been studying the Word, and as I've been reading some books by Christian authors, I think I am finally starting to realize the depth of my own depravity.

We need to grasp the seriousness of our own sin.

God despises sin. Any sin. He despises my sin and He despises your sin.

The biggest obstacle to the gospel today in our culture, is the complete ignorance of our own sin. In our culture, most people think that if they are good enough they will go to heaven, that hell is only for the vilest offenders in prison. Basically everyone else is good enough. We certainly are personally. We don't see the need to be rescued because we don't understand how much God hates sin, any sin no matter how "small" or how "big".

In our current culture, we first need to convince people of the bads news (that they are sinners) before we can even begin to tell them the Good News.

The man swallowing ocean water and going under doesn't need to hear he's drowning; he needs a life preserver. But countless people today, arms flailing, as they attempt to keep their heads above water, don't believe they are drowning - and so don't think they need rescue. (from Randy Alcorn's book If God is Good, pg 77)

If we don't have a correct view of sin we will never acknowledge our need for a Saviour. And, even worse, we minimize what Christ did for us on the cross.

We don't only demonstrate evil by what we do, but also by what we fail to do, and by what we stand by and allow others to do.

Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins. (James 4:17)

I really think that even the majority of Christians (including myself) have not truly understood how totally our sin separates us from our holy God.

When God says he is holy...he means that he constantly and actively separates himself from all sin, wickedness, evil, and moral corruption - that is, all that is common to this world...It is as if God were allergic to evil in all its forms, and he must immediately remove himself.... God is holy. That means that he is perfect, pure, and spotless in a way that we cannot imagine....His holiness defines all his other attributes. We fear his wrath because it is holy, and we admire his love precisly because it is holy. Day and night, those closest to him, the cherumbim and seraphim, cry: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts" (Isa 6:3) The cross was the most graphic demonstration of the Father's holiness in human history...... Here is the stunning truth: Such is the holiness of the Father that when his Son bore our sin and transgressions, God separated himself from him. "My God, my God," Jesus cried from the cross, "why have you forsaken me?" (Matt 27:46)... If God hates sin so much that he would separate himself even from his only Son when he bore our sin, how much more will he separate himself from our children if they are not reconciled to him through the miracle of new birth?... Because God is holy, he cannot forgive without punishing sin. The cross gave God a way to both forgive and satisfy divine justice at the same time. When God forgives a guilty sinner, it is only because his justice has been satisfied. God has punished it in his Son at the cross....God put the sins of all believers, Old and New Testament, on his Son. Then he punished those sins with the torments they deserve. In this way, God is able to forgive the offender without compromising his holy justice... The real question is not: "How can God be loving and wrathful at the same time?" Rather, the real question is: "How could God be good - infinitely good in the way the Bible describes him - and not feel intense anger at sin and evil?" Sin destroys everything it touches. It destroys the glory of God.... It corrupts families. It divides churches....Although sin often brings short-term pleasure, if not atoned for, it terminates in infinite pain. God is holy. How could he be infinitely good and apathetic toward evil at the same time? Infinite goodness must aggressively hate everything that destroys happiness.... The cross leads us to this conclusion: there are only two types of people. There are those who put their faith in Jesus and let him bear God's wrath in their place. And there are those who try to earn salvation on their own terms. They will bear this wrath themselves, in hell, for eternity. (William P Farley, from his book Gospel-Powered Parenting)

I really believe that the lack of understanding of the seriousness of our sin is the biggest hindrance to the futherance of the gospel in our culture today.

But when we finally grasp the eternal implications of sin, when we truly understand the wrath of God (as described in Isaiah 34), it makes the grace of God (as described in Isaiah 35) all that more amazing.



Tomorrow's passage: Micah 6-7, 2 Chronicles 32:1-8, 2 Kings 18:13-37, Isaiah 36