Sin, Judgment and Jesus

Sin and judgment are not popular topics these days.  We prefer to talk about love, mercy and grace.  And God’s Word has a lot to say about love, grace, and mercy.  However, we cannot fully appreciate God’s love, mercy and grace without understanding sin and judgment.

Good news of grace is only as good as we comprehend the truth about sin and judgment.

We have all done bad things.  We have all fallen short of God’s holiness (Romans 3:23).  We have all sinned against our Creator.  We have all gone our own way and refused to put God first.  We have all broken almost everyone of the 10 Commandments, if not outwardly, then certainly inwardly as Jesus spoke about in the Sermon on the Mount (Mathew 5-7). For example, He likened lustful thoughts to adultery.  He likened hatred inside to murder outside.  Ouch.  Guilty as charged.

And our sin deserves the judgment of God. Our sin deserves punishment.  Our sin deserves death (Romans 6:23).  Standing before God’s holiness renders us stricken to the ground in conviction and judgment.

Hosea 8-10 speaks of this judgment upon God’s people.  After all that God had done for Israel, they still turned their back on Him.  Judgment was looming, and He was giving them fair warning.

And just when it seemed there was no hope or no room to escape, God offers hope in Hosea 10:12, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you.” 

How cool is this!!!  God offers a chance to avoid judgment.  And to avoid judgment we must allow Him to break up our hard heart, and have Him plant the seed of righteousness (JESUS!) in our heart, and then we will produce a harvest of righteousness.  The Gospel of Jesus is the answer to sin and judgment because Jesus bore our sin and judgment on the cross, so that we can exchange our sin for His righteousness. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.

For more about sin, judgment and how to escape through Jesus, check out my sermon on Hosea 8-10 at http://www.livinghopeathens.org/when-judgment-comes/