I've had difficulty posting lately due to some health issues which have interfered with nearly all areas of life. Last time I posted I thought I was well recovered, only to find I was quite mistaken. This time? May the Lord raise me up for now, as well as on the last day, in the power of his own resurrection.
Today's readings are Exodus 15.1-18 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Ex.+15.1-18 ) and Hebrews 9.1-28 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Heb.+9.1-28 ).
In today's reading we see that God will in fact judge his enemies, trampling and destroying them. God is a God of vengeance and retribution. He repays evil by destroying it. He hates sin, and in his hatred of sin the sinner bears the penalty for his sin. No, there is no element of loving the sinner but hating the sin as we read today's lesson. God hates the sin. And both sin and sinner are destroyed in God's all-consuming wrath.
What is the gospel promise then? What hope do we have? See how Jesus, who became sin for us, bore the penalty for all our sin as he was destroyed physically and forsaken by God the Father. He himself has become the offering for the sin of the world. He has been subject to the full force of the wrath of God. And this is of his own accord, from his love not for sinners, but for those he proclaims righteous through his sacrifice on their behalf. The sinner is destroyed. That is Jesus, who became sin for us. The righteous one stands. That is us, the righteousness of God in Christ.
In this time immediately after Easter, let us rejoice to see the provision Christ has made. He is risen. And we who have been baptized into him, by faith are raised to newness of life with him, to live as his righteousness, his pure and holy people in this world. That's how Jesus loved the world. He gave himself so that we would not perish.
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