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Sin is a merciless master
Why should God judge my sins as worthy of death? It is because of His infinite holiness that no sin could exist in His presence.
In some primitive cultures, a native chief may club his wife to death on slight provocation, without falling in the smallest degree in the estimation of his people. The same act in our land would have to be paid for by the life of the murderer. The act is the same in both lands, but in one instance there is no judgement; in the other, quick retribution. The difference is simply the result of our enlightenment.
If a sin, which in a primitive culture is considered nothing, would cause a man to lose his life in our land, think, if you can, what some other sin, which appears to us as nothing, must look like to an infinitely holy God – “For God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
It may be just, but is it merciful of God to refuse to take us all to heaven even if we reject Christ as our sin-bearer? Yes, both just and merciful.
Would it be kindness to transfer a poor ragged beggar into the glare of a beautiful ballroom? Would he not be more conscious of his rags and dirt? Would he not do his best to escape to the darkness of the street? He would be infinitely happier there. Would it be kindness and mercy on God’s part to bring a man in his sins into the holy light of Heaven if that man had rejected God’s offer of the only cleansing power there is?
If you and I would not wish our friends to see inside our minds now and read all the thoughts that had ever been there (and our friends’ standards are perhaps not any higher than our own), what would it be like to stand before God, whose absolute holiness would reveal our sin in all its awfulness?
Thought: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). “For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29).
Prayer: Thank You, Father, for Your justice and mercy.
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