The Town Crier – Part 4
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; lovingkindness and truth go before You [Psalm 89:14].
Contemporary America is under the spell of middle class affluent morality, and it parades itself in the churches as Biblical righteousness. Beware the leaven of the spoiled rich kids, dear people.
A judge’s role is not to be “loving”. He is there to be “righteous”. He is there to enforce the law. God didn’t just overlook man’s sins and send him away scot-free because God is such a swell guy. God the Father gave His one and only Son as a sin offering on man’s behalf. The Son died man’s death that we might live His life. Man’s sins were not overlooked. Their penalty, death, was paid by God Himself.
That is the essence of “grace”, dear friends. It flows from God’s love, not from anything stemming from man. Jesus is the way, the TRUTH, and the life (cf., John 14:6). The Law came through Moses, but grace and TRUTH came through Jesus Christ.
Hence the parallelism in Psalm 89:14. God’s rule is righteous. That is its foundation. So God paid the penalty for man’s sins Himself, thereby maintaining His righteous rule. Sin was not overlooked: it was judged and the sinner executed. Man’s sins were placed on Jesus on the cross, making Jesus to be sin on our behalf.
After maintaining His righteous rule by condemning sin in the flesh, God now holds out His hand to man and offers us peace with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ. This comes by grace through faith. It spells God’s “lovingkindness and truth”. The Law is the foundation of God’s rule, but grace goes before Him. Grace, you see, is the town crier.
The legal proceedings have been completed. The meeting is adjourned. The King has arrived at His decision: the soul that sins will die. Every head drops and every mouth is shut. No one can lift the head to look into the face of the King of kings and Lord of lords. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not even one. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way.
But then the town crier goes before Him, goes ahead of the Law and announces the remainder of the King’s ruling. The town crier announces,
Though all of us have gone astray like sheep and turned to our own way, nonetheless the King has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all. All that is required of us is to turn back to Jesus and repent of our sins, acknowledge them to Him, and ask Him for His forgiveness.
I think I like this town crier. He is a preacher of extraordinary ability. He is a prophet to proclaim glad tidings of good cheer. He is the lovely feet on the mountaintop to bring good news, to publish glad tidings, to proclaim peace, to declare, “Our God reigns!”
Do you know the grace of God? Have you received His offer of peace through His Son, Jesus Christ? Go to Him now and receive Him. Kiss the Son, lest He smite you in the way.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Contemporary America is under the spell of middle class affluent morality, and it parades itself in the churches as Biblical righteousness. Beware the leaven of the spoiled rich kids, dear people.
A judge’s role is not to be “loving”. He is there to be “righteous”. He is there to enforce the law. God didn’t just overlook man’s sins and send him away scot-free because God is such a swell guy. God the Father gave His one and only Son as a sin offering on man’s behalf. The Son died man’s death that we might live His life. Man’s sins were not overlooked. Their penalty, death, was paid by God Himself.
That is the essence of “grace”, dear friends. It flows from God’s love, not from anything stemming from man. Jesus is the way, the TRUTH, and the life (cf., John 14:6). The Law came through Moses, but grace and TRUTH came through Jesus Christ.
Hence the parallelism in Psalm 89:14. God’s rule is righteous. That is its foundation. So God paid the penalty for man’s sins Himself, thereby maintaining His righteous rule. Sin was not overlooked: it was judged and the sinner executed. Man’s sins were placed on Jesus on the cross, making Jesus to be sin on our behalf.
After maintaining His righteous rule by condemning sin in the flesh, God now holds out His hand to man and offers us peace with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ. This comes by grace through faith. It spells God’s “lovingkindness and truth”. The Law is the foundation of God’s rule, but grace goes before Him. Grace, you see, is the town crier.
The legal proceedings have been completed. The meeting is adjourned. The King has arrived at His decision: the soul that sins will die. Every head drops and every mouth is shut. No one can lift the head to look into the face of the King of kings and Lord of lords. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not even one. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way.
But then the town crier goes before Him, goes ahead of the Law and announces the remainder of the King’s ruling. The town crier announces,
Though all of us have gone astray like sheep and turned to our own way, nonetheless the King has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all. All that is required of us is to turn back to Jesus and repent of our sins, acknowledge them to Him, and ask Him for His forgiveness.
I think I like this town crier. He is a preacher of extraordinary ability. He is a prophet to proclaim glad tidings of good cheer. He is the lovely feet on the mountaintop to bring good news, to publish glad tidings, to proclaim peace, to declare, “Our God reigns!”
Do you know the grace of God? Have you received His offer of peace through His Son, Jesus Christ? Go to Him now and receive Him. Kiss the Son, lest He smite you in the way.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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