“Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart. May the foot of the proud not come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. See how the evildoers lie fallen— thrown down, not able to rise!” (Psalm 36:10-12 NIV).
Yesterday we talked about God’s love. Notice verse 10, “Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart.” Somewhere in our sinfulness we have gotten the mistaken idea that the truth, “God is love,” (1 John 4:16 NIV) automatically excuses us from any consequence of sin. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our text reminds us that God’s love is experienced by “those who know (Him)” and His righteousness is reserved for “the upright in heart.” Our text goes on to remind us that there is coming a day when all who are unrighteous one day will “lie fallen— thrown down, not able to rise!”
If God is only love everyone gets to go to heaven–no matter how they lived or what they did. Before you rejoice at that thought, this means, Adolph Hitler, the mass murder of some 15 million people, Joseph Stalin who murdered some 30-60 million Russians, Chairman Mao Tse Tung who murdered 30 million Chinese, Saddam Hussain’s sons who brutally tortured and murdered thousands of innocent people, Nero, the terrorists who brought down the world trade center . . . all of these are enjoying the benefits of heaven today if God is only love. Ah, now the problem becomes a little more clear.
The same Bible that teaches God is love also teaches that He is just. The Bible says, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7 NIV– emphasis mine). And the Bible says, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27 NKJV). Now if God is just, certainly those listed in the paragraph above are not in heaven. But, before you rejoice, understand this: if God were only just, not only are the men mentioned above where they belong, but if God is only just, no one gets to go to heaven. “There is no one righteous, not even one . . . For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:10 & 23 NIV). This is why we need Christ. In Christ the justice of God is satisfied so that the love of God may be extended. You cannot experience the personal love of God apart from Christ. If you want to stand, you must stand in Him. If you want to stand you must first kneel at the foot of the cross.
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