Here Are My Thoughts

When I was younger, I used to avoid reading the Old Testament. If I had to pinpoint some reasons as to why I did so, I think it had to do with some misconceptions I had about its contents. There was this idea in my head that the Old Testament was just made up of stories I already knew, weird laws and rituals, messages to nations that don’t exist anymore, songs I didn’t know, and, of course, Song of Solomon, which just kinda freaked me out. Most of it didn’t make sense to me, and none of it seemed to apply to my life. So I didn’t really read it.

But then I heard sermons in high school that applied it to my life. I took classes in college that taught me how to understand it and see the beauty in it. It started making sense-and I started seeing the powerful truths it contained as I read. Powerful truths about God, humanity, and the relationship between the two. And one of the places I’ve found these truths most often is in the book of Isaiah.

I’ve been reading Isaiah again recently, and as I’ve been doing so, I’ve been reminded about a truth about God: He absolutely hates sin. Over and over again, I’m struck by how completely and utterly just God is. He truly does hate what is evil, and clings to what is good, as Paul instructs us to do in Romans 12. As God speaks through his prophet Isaiah, he continually reveals how angry sin makes him. He even doles out punishment to his people, Israel, and other nations when they sin. Here’s an example:

“The Lord has spoken out against Jacob; his judgment has fallen upon Israel. And the people of Israel and Samaria, who spoke with such pride and arrogance, will soon know it..But the Lord will bring Rezin’s enemies against Israel and stir up all their foes. The Syrians^[f] from the east and the Philistines from the west will bare their fangs and devour Israel. But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike. For after all this punishment, the people will still not repent. They will not seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. Therefore, in a single day the Lord will destroy both the head and the tail, the noble palm branch and the lowly reed. The leaders of Israel are the head, and the lying prophets are the tail. For the leaders of the people have misled them. They have led them down the path of destruction. That is why the Lord takes no pleasure in the young men and shows no mercy even to the widows and orphans. For they are all wicked hypocrites, and they all speak foolishness. But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike.” (Isaiah 9:8-17 NLT)

And what I’ve come to understand is that a lot of us are uncomfortable talking about this side of God. And I get it-on the surface, it seems a lot more appealing to talk about God’s love, grace, and mercy than it does to talk about his anger, wrath, and justice. We’d much rather focus on God forgiving people for their sin than punishing them for it. And I think that’s a misstep on our part.

Because God’s grace and justice are actually intertwined, dance partners that may not look and feel the same, but are nonetheless compatible. See, God has to hate sin first in order for there to be any reason for him to forgive us from it. If God wasn’t just, there would be no need for grace.

And it’s at the cross, where Jesus Christ died, that God’s grace and justice meet. God hates sin, so he must punish it. But he loves us, his people, and he doesn’t want to punish us eternally. So Jesus willingly takes the punishment for us. He takes all of God’s anger towards sin, all of his wrath, on his back-and therefore, we don’t face it if we give our lives to him. This is the Gospel, the good news-and it starts with God hating sin and us, by nature, being sinners.

But you may be saying to yourself, “Wouldn’t it be better if God didn’t hate sin? If he didn’t-Jesus wouldn’t have had to die. Couldn’t God just ignore and forget it?” And I guess he could-but then he wouldn’t be the God we need. Or the God we actually want.

If God isn’t just-if he doesn’t oppose evil and punish sin-then he really has no authority. He would be like a judge with no power to convict-he may not agree with the wrongdoing, but he couldn’t do anything about it. Evil would happen, and we would have no hope of it ever not happening-of there being a time where God would or could make things right. The fact of the matter is, we want God to be just, or otherwise what we do here on earth has no meaning. It wouldn’t matter if I did “right” or “wrong”, if I cared for others or hurt them. Without a just God, we have no standard, no reason to act in the interests of others rather than ourselves.

So in reality, those of us who have given their lives to Jesus get the best of both worlds. We get to live in a world in which we are free from the punishment of sin, because Jesus has sacrificed himself for us. But we also get to live in a world that is ruled by a just God-a God who hates evil, and who, in due time, will eradicate it fully. We get forgiveness of our sins, peace for our present, and hope for the future. 

It’s all possible because of who God is. Yes, he’s loving. Yes, he’s gracious. But yes, he’s also just-and I’m thankful for it.

-Brett