Behold Therefore The Goodness And The Severity Of God

The greatest tragedy recorded in the scriptures is the witness of Israel’s rejection of the one they had so long waited for: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11). They had prophesied his coming and no doubt celebrated his coming, but when he came as the lowly carpenter they despised him. This scorn of their pride turned to utter loathing as they misjudged him on the cross. They failed to see the truth of the cross because they refused to bear witness to what the word had faithfully foretold: It was their sin and shame that was hanging naked on the cross.

All of this point to a fundamental truth that we must understand in this last hour of the Lord’s return: Jesus always comes in a way we do not expect him. The failure of Israel to discern his presence, was rooted in their damnable sin of unbelief in refusing to believe ALL that was written in the Word of God. In their mind, they would have readily accepted Jesus annihilating the Roman army as a conquering King, but they couldn’t accept his coming as a Lamb led to the slaughter. Both the Lamb and the King were foretold in the scriptures, but in the minds of the Sanhedrin, only one of these truths fit the image of God that would save the nation of Israel. In this blatant discarding of the whole truth, they changed the image of God into a lie and God gave them over to a reprobate mind: They crucified the Prince of Peace and embraced a murderer. In trying to save their position, they lost it:Their nation was completely destroyed some thirty years later.

We refuse to believe all that the scripture teaches us about God because of the brain damage we suffered at the fall in the garden: We think we know what God is supposed to look like and what we look like. We embrace his goodness, but reject his severity. We hold on to the erroneous belief of our own goodness and push away the notion that our hearts really are desperately wicked. We rejoice in a God that made Heaven; we try to ignore the God that made Hell. We love the New Covenant promise that all our sins are forgiven; we ignore the New Covenant declaration that those who continue in the works of the flesh WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

To make God out to be something he is not and then to preach this “golden calf” as the true God is the very essence of idolatry! We must reverence the living Word of God as that which is unchangeable. God is exactly who he says he is and it is not for me to pick and choose the parts I like: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:18-20).