The Comfort of the Lord

Isaiah 40: 1 - 5, "Comfort, yes, comfort my people," says your God. "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and tell her that her sad days are gone. Her sins are pardoned, and I have punished her in full for all her sins." Listen! I hear the voice of someone shouting, "Make a road for the Lord through the wilderness; make him a straight, smooth road through the desert. Fill the valleys; level the hills; straighten out the crooked paths, and smooth off the rough spots in the road. The glory of the Lord will be seen by all mankind together." The Lord has spoken-it shall be. TLB

I have noticed that if the enemy can't trip up a believer with a temptation to sin against the Lord, then he will use a weapon called "injustice" against us. Proverbs 4 tells us to guard our hearts with all diligence... for out of the heart flow the issues of life. By examining this verse, we can see where Satan targets us with his poisonous darts. If he can't get us to sin against our God, then he will try to turn us against our faith; Satan tries to convince us to be offended toward God and toward our faith by using an injustice that has been done against us. He would love for us to blame God for the wrongs that have been done to us.

When the serpent entered the garden of God, his intention was to separate man from God through sin. With temptation, he led Eve astray from the truth of God and caused her sin against God in order that he might inflict her with injustice. Remember, it was her son, Cain that committed the first murder on earth. He killed his brother, Abel who was righteous and obedient to God's will. Doesn't that sound like injustice to you? The son who had sin in his heart lived, and the righteous son was killed because of his obedience. Wait, that sounds like what happened to Jesus on the cross? Pilate had the authority to release a prisoner of Rome from among the Jews, but instead of choosing the innocent, Jesus, the people chose a thief called Barabbas. Only a short time before, those same people were shouting to Jesus as He entered the city on a donkey, "Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." Now they're shouting, "Crucify Him." Now, isn't this a very good example of injustice in the earth?

Even though the death of Jesus is very troubling, to us who have been forgiven by His shed blood, it is "Good News". You see, He was afflicted so that our sin debt could be paid in full, and so that we could be comforted. He is a righteous Judge; His holiness demands justice, but His mercy provides forgiveness and a way of escape. Man chose to enter into sin, but God gave His Son to die in our place, so that now we can live under the grace of God. We live in a fallen world plagued by sin and injustice, but God has made a way for us, who believe and trust in Christ, to escape the injustices of this world.

The Bible tells us that it's easier to overtake a fortified city than it is to reach a person who is living under the power of offense. Let's put this principle into proper context. Sin didn't prevent God from sending Jesus to seek and to save that which was lost. Sin didn't stop Jesus from hanging on a Roman cross and dying for our sin debt. But, "our offense" can hinder God and Jesus from saving us from the hurt and disappointment caused by the injustice that was released in the beginning when Adam and Eve sinned. Just like it wasn't fair for Jesus, an innocent, to be hung on a rugged cross and a convicted thief to be allowed to go free, life for us can sometimes be unfair. But, today, because of His death, burial, and resurrection, we have good news. We don't have to allow the injustice of living in a fallen world prevent us from receiving all that God has for us. Jesus has made a way of escape so that we are able resist the temptations of life and overcome them through Him. It isn't fair that He died in my place, but isn't that what God's grace and comfort is all about?

If you struggle with unforgiveness, or you are offended at God because of a tragedy in your life, you can be free, right now, through the same grace that sent Jesus to die on, what should have been, "our" cross. Remember, if Satan can't get us to enter temptation and sin, then he will use injustice as a weapon against us. The key is to walk in faith, humbly before the Lord. He will see to it that no weapon formed against shall be able to prosper. Nothing can separate you or me from the love of God in Christ.

Surrounded By His Grace,
Pastor Asa