We are tempted to create in our image a pleasant God the Father who forgives all we ever did with the flick of an “I’m sorry”.
But God is not a pleasant, lovable, petty fool who can be so easily manipulated. It was not our “I’m sorry” that forgave us—it was the horrid, despicable violent death that Jesus underwent. The temptation is to paint a picture of happy rainbows and unicorns of which God does not care about sin because He “knows we’re only human”.
Blasphemy! He tells you to get up and act like a man—what’s more—to act like a god! And to stop meddling in such despicable affairs. To Him, sin is so severe He sent His son to live out thirty-three years here and be hung on a cross, naked and destitute. To say God is all-loving and all-forgiving, while forgetting the cross, is a quiet, sweet abomination.
When one has a full revelation of the cost of the cross, that one flees from sin; recognizing both its horror and God’s severity toward it. We run toward a loving, forgiving Father who butchered, betrayed, and humiliated His Son so that we could. Let us not be tempted to think God is “okay” with our pride parade, prejudice parade, lust parade, deceit parade, or greedy wherewithal; believing that “I’m only human and was born this way.” You were born an animal destined to be a god. Act like it! And recognize the sheer horror and glory of God’s magnanimity and His hatred toward sin.
There is none righteous, but by the blood of Jesus; and until one bathes in its beauty and disgust, one cannot know they are righteous before God.
As God hardened and strengthened the heart of King Saul and others before him, so God hardens and strengthens the hearts of Presidents and others before and after. Until a man comes in submission and humility before God, our country will taste and see the Lord is just to hold a country—who killed 50 million babies—accountable. What else did we expect?
Grace and mercy will come. The blood of Jesus will forgive and save. There is no question. But most of America—Christians and pagans alike—act as though we deserve forgiveness. We shout nonsensical hatred, prejudice, and greed, and expect God to cover it up. We act as though our country is better than some invisible standard held up by an ethereal morality rooted in what men and women—who we disrespect and ridicule—did generations before us. But true morality would wipe us out for what we’ve done and allowed.
Grace and forgiveness will rescue us. But we do not deserve it, nor should we expect it. Only in genuine humility and submission will we see the move of God. Only the pure of hearts shall see Him. Oh, what pride we have! And destruction follows it, always.
Cry for your children! Cry for those who are ignorant and blind! Act like the man or woman God made you to be. Submit before Him. And for the love of God!—become desperate for His presence and forget about what you think you deserve.
Keith G. Alderman 