For I AM the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed… I will have mercy on whom I WILL have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I WILL have compassion… But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep… Behold therefore, the goodness and severity of God. Mal 6:3; Rom 9:15; 1Cor 11:32,30; Rom 11:22
Our God is holy — unchangingly holy. Therefore, all violations, breaches, and defilements of his holiness must be dealt with and eliminated. His holiness includes, and is the sum total of, all his other divine attributes — his Eternity, his Omnipotence, his Wisdom, his Righteousness, his Justice, etcetera. That would also include his Love. Even his love cannot break rank, nor be allowed to besmirch his Perfection. Sin violates his perfection, and therefore must be dealt with and terminated. So, either we will end our sin, or our sin will end us — temporally or eternally. Therefore, God says,
Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed… As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? Ezekiel 18:31; 33:11
Herein lies the mystery surrounding the prophetic scriptures. The whole 66-book volume of the Father’s love and promises ends with The Book of Revelation, a wholesale chronicle of God conducting a holy ceremony of first judging, then destroying, and lastly remaking heaven and earth. This is a “HOLY” ceremony, I say; orchestrated by God and his holy angels — NOT THE DEVIL!!! The Father, who loves us eternally, sometimes has to end us suddenly. When in unrepentant and stubborn hearts, we are approaching that zone known as “depravity” and “reprobation,” his love demands both that he “put us out of our misery” and keep us from eternal damnation, “a fate worse than death.” Being then judged by God to be “a danger to ourselves and others,” He retires us from this life, bringing us immediately home to heaven. (And, under any circumstances, that’s always an unqualified blessing.)
This free will God gave us will even allow us to wander that far from spiritual and mental health and well-being. Thus, God sovereignly assures our salvation. Therefore, even in divine judgment, our God shows his children mercy. One of our opening verses, 1Cor 11:30 says, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep…” Here, “SLEEP” is just a euphemism for “premature death.”
So, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). “ALL THINGS” (no matter how it may seem at the time) — “whether death or life,” or “height or depth,” or “things present or things to come,” or, “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword” (Rom 8:38,39,35) — all things are affirmations of God’s love for us. All that our God sends to us is “blessings.” He sends both blessings that are blessings IN OUR EYES, and he sometimes sends to us blessings IN DISGUISE. But to his elect children, all God sends is “blessings.” Glory. Selah. Meditate on that. Hallelujah. Amen.
Christian Covenant Community Clarion 