Friends
“‘“Because you rejoiced when the inheritance of Israel became desolate, that is how I will treat you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, you and all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”‘”
Today’s Text: Ezekiel 35:1-15 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
I was never a disrespectful atheist—at least, I hope I was not. I fancied myself a humanist—someone who is sensitive to our human nature and our human condition. And so, for me, any religion was cool as long as no one used that religion to oppress others.
But now that I am a Christian, I realize that I was being subtly arrogant and proud—and deluded—about my own ability to fathom the depths of human nature and the human condition. In truth, I was clueless. Even now, my default perspective about anything is that I am clueless apart from God’s grace in allowing me to have understanding about anything.
That is not to say that my default perspective about life and the world should be ignorance. God has much to show us. But we must acknowledge that all knowledge has its source in God, who created the heavens and the earth—and all of us, besides.
Now, even the “humanism” that I embrace comes from the word of God. Existentially speaking, I believe that God created all people equal. There is God, and then there is the rest of us. In that context, one of the more difficult concepts for me to accept as a Christian is God’s outright favor toward His people.
There is God, then there are His people, and then there is the rest of the world.
In God’s economy, a person should not want to find themselves grouped with “the rest of the world.” Outside of God’s kingdom, there is no protection from the curse of sin. And most of all, there is no protection from the wrath of God itself.
Inside the kingdom of God, we are protected by the blood of Christ that stains the frame of the gates of the kingdom.
And so, I wonder (and mourn a little) for those who are anti-Christian. There are those who are anti-Christian just because they do not put their faith in Christ as Lord. But then there are those who are avowed enemies of Christianity. They are avowed enemies of Christ.
They are enemies of God. Lord, have mercy on their souls, because they know not what they do. They are blind and headed for desolation. They promote desolation in this world.
Lord, have mercy on their souls. But the word of God tells us that God’s mercy on the enemies of Christ is found at cross of Christ. What greater mercy can God have than to punish His own Son for the sake of His very own enemies?
But as the apostle Paul wrote, “how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard” (Romans 10:14). God’s mercy for the enemies of Christ comes through the witnesses of Christ, who deliver the good news of the kingdom of God to a desolate world that needs Jesus and needs Jesus now.
Father, Your mercy knows no bounds, because You are good and Your lovingkindness and mercy endure forever. I confess that I take Your mercy for granted and do not grasp the full weight of it day to day. Thank You for being merciful to me. But today, let me know the weight of Your mercy and bear witness to my Lord in my actions and words. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
