Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Monday, December 28, 2015
Sunday, December 27, 2015
He Shall See What Their End Shall Be
December
27
He will
See what their End Shall Be
They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom
they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of
the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed
thee. And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of
his sons, and of his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be:
for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith (Deut.
32:17-20)
As we learned in yesterday’s
devotion, God did not exert divine power to destroy sinners in the Old
Testament as is commonly taught. On the contrary, there are always enemy forces
waiting to destroy mankind. Were it not for God exerting His divine power to
keep these enemy forces at bay, most of us would have experienced certain
destruction by now.
However, when we persist in
sin and push God out of lives sooner or later He is left with no choice but to
withdraw His protective presence. This is known as the hiding of His face. This is the exact opposite of God shining His face on us, which is
symbolic of His protective presence:
Tell Aaron and his sons: You will bless the Israelites
as follows. Say to them: The Lord bless
you and protect you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up his face to you and grant you peace. They will place my name
on the Israelites, and I will bless them (Numbers 6:23-27; Common
English Bible)
God prefers to “shine”
rather than “hide” His face. Sadly, men have a strange propensity for
ingratitude. Rather than seeing God’s graciousness in protecting His people
from the evil forces that surround them, men use it as a false security to sin,
not realizing that persistent sin can cause the face of God to stop shining and
start hiding.
When God hides His face He
takes a step back to observe what will happen to the unrepentant sinner. This
proves that God is not actively bringing about the results of their sin but
simply removing His protection and allowing the forces surrounding the sinner
to have their way. This truth should be the interpretive model for all of the
statements in Deuteronomy 28 in which God is said to inflict the results of the
curses that come from disobedience. God is only said to do that which He
permits to happen when He removes His protection.
http://www.vindicatinggod.org
Friday, December 25, 2015
God's Benevolent Will Towards Men
December
25
God’s
Benevolent Will Towards Men
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I
bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city
of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto
you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising
God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke
2:10-14)
If we are to remember one
thing this Christmas day, it is that God’s will towards men is not evil but for
good. Jeremiah said it best when he recorded God as saying, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward
you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace,
and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jer. 29:11).
One
should never believe that the evil in this world
is a representation of God’s will. The angels that announced the
birth of Jesus told us exactly what the will of God is towards men when they sang the song
above. They had just announced the birth of the Savior into the world and
expressed God’s heartfelt intentions for sending Him, which was peace on earth
and a good will towards men.
Some
who adhere to a determinist theology and make God the cause of all that happens
have a tendency to redefine what is meant by “good.” However, there is no
confusion about this when we see that the angels equate “peace on earth” with
the good will and intentions that God has
towards men.
We
see then that because there is much happening in our world today that could by
no means be classified as “good”. There are wars and rumors of wars. Immorality has
become rampant and is even being legislated as law. Morality is looked upon as
evil and the government is taking sides against businesses that attempt to hold
on to Christ-like principles. Anarchy continues to reign in our inner cities
and the murder of the unborn is seen as a legal right in the courts.
Politicians and preachers are being exposed constantly for lies and hypocrisy
and the Bible, if adhered to at all, is being twisted by both to justify
immoral stances.
These do not represent God’s
good intentions. It is for this reason that we needed a Savior. This Christmas,
reflect on the fact that God demonstrates His loving character by having sent
Jesus Christ to save us from all of the destruction that the world is doing to
itself. Embrace the One who was born to die for you.
http://www.vindicatinggod.org
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Your Christmas Gift
December
24
Your
Christmas Gift
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for
us, who can be against us? He that spared
not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him
also freely give us all things? (Rom. 8:31-32)
This Christmas Eve while
many are doing their last minute shopping, preparing large meals for multiple
relatives (or preparing to eat them), as well as putting up last minute
decorations and Christmas trees, remember the main reason for this wonderful
holiday is to reflect on why the Savior came into the world. Jesus is God’s
special and precious “Christmas gift” to all of mankind.
Concerning His life Jesus
said, “No man taketh it from me, but I
lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it
again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (John 10:18). This is
important to remember. Jesus did not have to die if He did not want to. The
Father did not have to allow His Son to be killed. Both the Father and Son made
choices and in their choices you and I took precedence over all of the pain,
suffering, heartbreak, and separation that the Father and Jesus would have to
endure.
Look at the language used in
these passages: God, “spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all,”
That means He could have used omnipotent power to prevent the killing of His
Son. He could have easily blown away the men and demons that orchestrated the
worse murder in all of history. Rather than stop it, Peter also says, “Him, when
he was given up, by the decision and knowledge of God….” (Acts 2:23).
God gave up His Son. He gave Him up for us. God did not kill Him. Our sins put
Him on that cross.
Jesus, who could have called
upon a legion of angels to help Him (Matt. 26:53) instead decided to lay down
His life. This same Jesus who created the universe and who created mankind,
allowed His own creatures to kill Him in order that He may save them. This is
the epitome of love. The Creator God who had power to stop the torment and
torture that He underwent for us gave Himself over to it because we were on His
mind during the whole torturous event.
So this day before
Christmas, when some parents will lie to children and tell them about an
overweight, white bearded man in a red suit who climbs down chimneys to bring
them toys as gifts as a reward for being good, let us tell the world about a
Savior who gave us the gift of Savior. This gift wasn’t given because we were
good. He was given to make us good.
http://www.vindicatinggod.org
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