The Puritans wrote the Westminster Shorter Catechism in 1647. It is a series of questions and answers intended to teach the primary doctrines of the Christian faith. And it has as it’s first question; What is the chief end of man? That is not a vague reference to the Super Bowl by the way. They meant, what is the primary purpose of man? The answer is “man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”
That principle is important for us to understand. Without that understanding, then it’s possible to put man on a much higher pedestal than what God intended. We need to understand that God made man for fellowship with Him. That is the purpose of man’s creation. God’s purpose for making man is revealed by analogy in the story of creation. After God made everything on earth, He said that it was not good for man to be alone. Prior to that, everything that God made was good. But after making all things, God said one thing was not good. And that was that there was not a help mate suitable for Adam.
And then God did a strange thing. Rather than immediately making a help mate for Adam, He first caused all the creatures of the world to pass by Adam so that he could name them. And at the conclusion of that task, Moses writes; “The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.” Then immediately following, God caused Adam to fall asleep and took a rib from Adam and made Eve from it.
I believe the analogy is this. That before the creation of the world, God examined all the things that He had made, all the angelic creatures, all the worlds and universes in all the various galaxies. And in all of the galaxies, in all of His creation, there was not found a help mate suitable for Him. And so God spoke into existence the heavens and the earth, and all the creatures of the earth, and on the sixth day of creation He formed man from the dust of the earth in His own image, in His likeness, and He breathed the breath of God into his nostrils. I believe that speaks of an intimacy in His touch and a likeness through HIs breath that is not indicated in the rest of creation. He made man to be like Him, to be a companion for Him, to be a help mate for Him. He made man to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. By the breath of God, He made man a living soul, that is, a being that would live on forever.
Man was made by God for fellowship and intimacy with God and to be the bride of God. Yet man sinned against God, thereby corrupting himself irrevocably and completely. This creation of God was so fouled that it was impossible for God to have that fellowship for which He had created man. That sin of man had an immediate consequence which was the consequence of the eternal law of God, that is death, both physical and spiritual death. And that consequence was put into motion when man sinned. Therefore, through the sin of Adam, the human race became destined for extinction.
Through Adam the corruption of sin is endemic to the entire human race. Thus the whole world is born in sin. Paul says in Romans 1: 18 that because of sin “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” The wrath of God is the condemnation of death which is upon all men, for all have sinned. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism says in question 18, Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell? A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.
And then it follows up that in question Q. 19. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell? A. All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse , and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.
So in the closing arguments of chapter 1, Paul has enumerated the sins of man and shown the progressive nature of the corruptibleness of sin. He shows how the sin nature manifests itself in defiling the body, soul and mind. And how because of man’s willfulness in sin, and rebellion against God, He gives them over to be consumed completely and corrupted thoroughly by it, so that the wrath of God justly falls on all sinners.
Therefore, Paul says in chapter 2, because it has thoroughly been established that the immoral practices of man is an abomination to God and worthy of death, therefore, you too, whoever you may be, are without excuse because you judge others as sinful, and yet you do the same things yourself. And I believe that Paul is indicating here that even though your sins may not have been done as openly as those described in chapter one, but in your heart you still are guilty of the same sins. The sins of the heart are described in chapter 1 vs 29-31,”being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; [they are] gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful.” All of these sins of the heart are endemic to all men in their natural state to some degree or another.
And Paul says that because we judge others who act on that sinful nature we are in effect casting judgment upon ourselves because we share in that same proclivity to sin. Even the idolatry practiced by pagans is replicated by us who have made an idol out of ourselves. As Paul said in chapter 1, we worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator.
Paul says in vs2, that we know that God’s judgment rightly falls against those who practice such things. We have no excuse because we know through creation the invisible attributes of God, and we know in our hearts the law of God. Paul says in vs 15 that “they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.” And they have experienced the common grace, or the goodness of God in all the things that He made for them to enjoy.
But I think who Paul is specifically addressing here are people who may appear moral on the outside but are full of corruptness on the inside. They may not have allowed their natural desires to show to others, but nevertheless, in their judgment of others they condemn themselves because they have the same kind of corrupt hearts. They have the same evil desires. They are guilty of judging others by one standard, and judging themselves by another. But God rightly judges the hearts of men, and the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. So we see that the wrath of God and the judgment of God are connected. Heb 9:27 ties the wrath of God which is death and the judgement of God together by saying; “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
And so Paul speaks in vs 3 of that judgment which comes after death. “But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same [yourself,] that you will escape the judgment of God?” In 2Cor. 5:10 he tells us more what that judgment looks like: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” All men will stand before God in judgment for their deeds which he has done in his body while on earth.
But there is an opportunity that God gives, in His mercy, between the condemnation of sin and the judgment of sin, and that is a man’s life. God has every reason to immediately wipe man from the face of the earth and be done with it. But He is merciful, and in HIs mercy and kindness He allows us time to repent.
This is what Paul refers to as the patience and kindness of God, in which He gives time to repent. Vs4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” In our self righteousness, in our comparative morality, it’s possible to mistake the goodness of God and the lack of immediate consequences for our sin, for the approval of God. When in fact, Paul says it’s just the opposite. The kindness and patience of God is given to lead us to repentance that we might be converted.
Peter in 1 Peter 3, talks about the patience of God which waited during the days of Noah when God said My Spirit will not strive with man forever, therefore his days shall be 120 years. God gave man 120 years to repent at the preaching of Noah. But they continued to eat and drink and go about their daily activities as if they had all the time in the world.
In Romans 9:22 it says, “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?” The point Paul is making is the impending judgment and wrath of God upon sin. But there is another side to that equation which is less apparent perhaps, but nevertheless in full effect. And that is the love of God, the compassion of God, the kindness of God is working to deliver us from that destiny of wrath. God in His compassion is giving time to repent. He is showing mercy by allowing us time to come to repentance.
And that principle of showing kindness to someone when they deserve wrath in hope of producing repentance should be a principle by which Christians operate as ministers of God. When reviled, we do not retaliate. When we are harshly treated by our enemies, we pray for them and even show love towards our enemies. We overcome evil with good. Those are Christian principles which are exampled by God towards sinners who are at enmity with Him. And so they are principles that we should emulate in our dealings with those who sin against us.
Here is the kindness of God. Here is the love of God. Not that He stopped counting our sins. Not that He no longer takes appraisal of our sin. But for the one who repents, God stopped counting our sins against us. God does not hold back His wrath against sin, God has instead counted our sins upon Christ, and poured out His wrath on Jesus, that we might have life. That is what Jesus did for us, He took the punishment that was due us upon Himself and suffered the wrath of God which was the penalty that we deserved.
But the fact is that most people think lightly of the kindness of God. In other words, they don’t take it seriously. They think because there is no immediate result of their sin that they have escaped the wrath of God. Or they have designed a god of their own imagination which is not wrathful, who is only loving, forgiving and therefore they believe incapable of wrath. Whatever their reason, Paul says that rather than escape the wrath of God, they are only storing it up for an eventual unleashing on the day of wrath. He says in vs. 5 “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”
Notice here Paul makes it clear that it is the evil heart that deserves the judgment of God. It is the man that rebuffs correction, that continues in their rebellion against their Maker. And Paul says that rather than your putting off of repentance causing God to forget about your sin, your stubbornness and unrepentant heart are only causing God’s wrath to be stored up, to be poured out in a deluge at the judgment of God, which Paul calls the day of wrath. There is coming a day of reckoning. All men will suffer the wrath of God through physical death, but those that are unrepentant will suffer the wrath of God in spiritual death, which John in Revelation calls the second death. That death is eternal death, eternal separation from God, eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire. I may not be able to comprehend all that is encompassed in death. But I believe it because the Bible says it will happen on the day of wrath.
There is coming a day of judgment for all men. Paul describes it in vs 6-11. The fact of it’s certainty is revealed because it is presented twice. In vs 6-8 Paul presents the judgment of God with the righteous being first followed by the wicked. And in vs 9-11 he reverses the order, but says virtually the same thing, only presenting the wicked first, and the righteous last.
Let’s read the first description of the judgment starting in vs 6; “who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.” I want to emphasize that Paul does not talk here about faith or a lack of faith as being the requirement for deliverance from wrath. But he speaks about deeds. God will render to each person according to His deeds. Those who do good, get eternal life. Those that do evil, that do not obey, get wrath.
Now that is not to say that justification is not by faith. Paul has already established in chapter 1:17 that the just shall live by faith. But let me explain in the words of James. Faith without works is dead. Or we could say it this way, faith without deeds is dead. Faith, in other words, is always accompanied by obedience, by doing what Christ commanded. Faith is not just believing in the existence of God, or that Christ lived and died, but faith is being obedient to what Christ taught. Faith is the way of life. It’s a path of life. It’s doing as Christ did, dying to the flesh and being raised to new life so that we might walk by the Spirit. God will render to each person according to his deeds. And if you have saving faith, it will be shown by your deeds, resulting in eternal life.
Now I will add that the Bible teaches that there are two types of judgment. One is for Christians called the Bema seat Judgment. It is the judgment of rewards for those who are justified by faith in Christ and they are exempt from the penalty of death because Jesus paid that penalty on their behalf. Thus they are judged according to their works of faith that they did as a Christian and they receive their reward.
But there is also taught the Great White Throne judgment against those that have not trusted in Jesus as their Savior and Lord. And at that judgment those people still have the condemnation of death upon them because they rejected the substitutionary death of Christ. And so they still face the wrath of God.
So Paul speaks again of the judgment in reverse order in vs9: “[There will be] tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”
Let me remind you of something. The Jews claimed to believe in God. They claimed to believe the word of God, to keep His commandments. But as we learned in the Sermon on the Mount, they were guilty of sinning in their hearts, though they appeared outwardly to keep the letter of the law, they failed to keep the spirit of it. And so Paul is emphasizing that there is no distinction between persons with God. God will judge on the basis of what men do, not according to what man imagines he is. God will judge not on the basis of heritage or race, or nationality or religion. But God will judge the heart.
Listen, Paul has told us that the wages of sin is death. Death is due to all men. The wrath of God is being poured out and it will continue until it is completely poured out. One day, on the Day of Wrath, all mankind will be wiped out. The whole earth will be destroyed. Peter said in 2Peter 3:7-10 concerning that day, “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one [fact] escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”
Peter continues in vs11 “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord [as] salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you.”
Peter says the day of wrath is coming when all creation will be destroyed God will make all things new. And the only way to survive the coming wrath of God is to be made a new creation, by repentance of your sins, and faith in Jesus Christ, so that you might be born again. Made new. Made righteous. Made in the likeness of Jesus Christ. You can become a new creation through repentance of your sins and faith in Jesus Christ who took your place on the cross, that you may die to sin, and be raised to newness of life. I pray that you do not think lightly of the kindness of God, but that it would lead you to repentance, that you might escape the wrath of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment