Punishment and suffering never seem fair.
Why would a loving God allow us to feel pain?
Because He is merciful. What’s that? How is punishment merciful?
And what about those times when our sin did not precipitate our suffering? Again, His mercy. His lavish grace enables us to do good.
This morning I was caught by a couple of verses tucked away in that book we sometimes avoid reading: Leviticus.
Sometimes it can feel like passages in the OT are from another worldโlike we cannot relate to them. Yet even though their culture was vastly different, there is still so much that remains the same.
We still struggle with this thing called sin and at the root of that sin is ugly pride.
And our God? He remains the same. He hates our pride and our sin but loves us so very much. He does not delight in punishing us but He cares too much for our souls to leave us in our sin:
Leviticus 27:40-41
“But at last my people will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors for betraying me and being hostile toward me. 41 When I have turned their hostility back on them and brought them to the land of their enemies, then, at last, their stubborn hearts will be humbled, and they will pay for their sins.โ
There in these two little verses, we catch a glimpse at the heart of God toward us and toward our sin.
๐ย ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ.
Like gravity reminds us (sometimes painfully), we will have an opposite reaction for our action. We can’t escape the law of gravity and we can’t escape God’s laws. He made usโnot to live for sin, but to live in relationship with Him.
๐ย ๐๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐.
Sometimes we give our sin nice names to make space for it in our lives. We think of our sin as something we can’t do anything about. But Jesus did something about it. The reality of our sin cost Him His own life.
๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐.
๐ย ๐๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐.
Give sin its real name. Betrayal. Name each sin and then deal with it biblically. Irradicate it and don’t allow it. The sin we cherish betrays us, too.
๐ย ๐๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐จ๐จ๐ญ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐๐. ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐ฐ๐ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ.
Any parent will tell you we can see it in our own childrenโwe ask them to do something and they choose (free will) to do what they want. My youngest son will frequently start his explanation for this by saying, “I thought . . .”
We can rationalize our sin away by our thoughts, but the truth still stands. And putting our thinking above God’s is the highest pride.
๐ย ๐๐จ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐จ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐.
I hated spanking my kids when they were younger. Wished they would just choose to do right, but it was actually cruel to not deal with their sin and leave them in their sin.
๐ย ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐๐จ๐ญ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง.
The stubbornness of our hearts is humbled when we endure suffering. Humilityโthe very thing we wanted to avoid, our humbling, is the very thing that will bring us joy and sets us free from the bondage of sin.
We waste so much time on this earth trying to be enough, to prove our worth, but God already did that. He is our worth, He is our sufficiency. We can stop striving for our own righteousness.
And sin’s offerings will not ever bring us what we seek. Temporary acceptance? Power? The ability to “do what we want”?
We were made for so much more.
God hates sin because of what it does to us. It separates us from God and destroys our lives. And it is rebellion against the Holy God Who made us for His glory and to be in relationship with Him. In the very beginning, he warned us about sinโit would try to master us, but we must master it: Genesis 4:7:
“You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.โ
๐๐๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง, ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐. ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง.
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14