Title: The Righteous God
Contents
Psalm 119:137-138 The righteous God
I will testify of God's word with the title of the righteous God. The God we believe in is righteous. We can see that God reveals this righteousness of God through practical actions in the history of the Bible, which is that he hates sin and judges it.
I'll give you an example. God loved the Israelites who were oppressed and suffered as slaves in Egypt. Hearing their mourning cries and pain, he himself prepared for the Exodus and led them to Canaan through Moses. On their journey to Canaan, there was a wilderness they had to cross.
The wilderness is the land of death. It is a land where everything that human beings need is thoroughly hidden and covered. God led the Israelites out of that wilderness. To protect their lives, God guided them with a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. Not only that, but He continues to provide our daily bread with manna from heaven during our journey in the wilderness. As a result, the wilderness is no longer a land of death, but a land of God's grace and blessing. That is how God loved the people of Israel. But God reveals His righteousness when the Israelites sinned. It is God's judgment that reveals his righteousness.
Romans 1:18 testifies to this. “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
God is angry with unrighteous people who block the truth. God will judge all those who intentionally block the revelation of God's will in the world. When Pharaoh king of Egypt blocked Israel's exodus from Egypt, it went beyond blocking the Exodus and became an unrighteous person who blocked God's will. At that time, King Pharaoh was judged by God and died. Even among the people of Israel, the first generation who stood in the way of God's will in the wilderness, even after the Exodus, could not enter Canaan, and wandered in the wilderness and died.
To those who pursue unrighteousness, Paul testifies in Romans 2:5 and 8 of God who judges the final judgment because he is righteous. “But according to your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when the righteous judgment of God is revealed. God will recompense each one according to his deeds, but to those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfish and do not pursue the truth but pursue unrighteousness, wrath and wrath.”
Our Lord also said this in Matthew 13:40-43: “Therefore, as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of the kingdom all the stumbling block and those who practice lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. At that time the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
God is patient, but if we do not repent, there will be final judgment. God is a righteous God, and He forgives and saves those who repent of their sins and believe in the Gospel.
The word of God's promise about this is in 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Salvation is made.
God tells us what the righteous God cares about in Psalm 34:15. I'll read it, he said, "The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry." God's eyes are focused on the righteous in this world today. And Psalm 92:12 testifies how much God blesses the righteous. The righteous will prosper like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. It is planted in the house of the LORD; it will prosper in the courts of our God. They will bear fruit in old age, be full of sap, and be lush in light, revealing the uprightness of the LORD.”
What do we realize here? A righteous God continues to require of us humans, that we should reveal and do God's righteousness in this world. Righteous deeds, righteous deeds are required of us.
Micah 6:8 testifies of this God's intention.
“The Lord has shown you what is good, and what the Lord requires of you is not to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God?” He commands us to do justice first.
God also demanded this through the prophet Amos, “But let public law flow like water, and justice like a river.” He said, “Let justice overflow among you like the waters of the sea.”
That's right. God is righteous, and every child who believes in Him demands righteousness both in personal life and in his personal life. It demands righteous thoughts, righteous words, and righteous actions. It demands righteous association.
If you go to Namsan, you will see the statue of Ahn Jung-geun. Doctor Ahn Jung-geun wrote several valuable quotes before he was executed for the country in Yeosun Prison. In one of his writings, there is a saying, 'Gyeon-i-sa'. If we interpret it, it means, “When you see profit, think about righteousness.” Think of righteousness when there is profit, when I have financial gain. In other words, think about whether the profit is really the right way or not.
When we decide to do something, it is common to decide whether this is beneficial or harmful. But more than that, Ahn Jung-geun decided to proceed with the work based on a different standard, which meant he thought deeply about whether the work was right or wrong. According to the words of the Bible, I thought deeply about whether what I wanted to do was in accordance with God's will.
In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord says that those who live with these thoughts are hungry and thirsty for righteousness. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. However, it is very difficult to find people who truly desire and long for persecution for the sake of righteousness as Christians. I want to receive blessings and grace from God, but I want to avoid devoting myself with joy for the kingdom and righteousness of God, which God really wants and desires. I try to live a life of faith in an appropriate line.
The Bible challenges such people. “I challenge you to live in this age like someone who hungers and thirsts for righteousness. To live such a life is a truly blessed person. Because he is the one who will be blessed on the day of judgment by the righteous God.
In order to live such a life, we cannot achieve God's righteousness and truly love God without hating the sin of trying to stay in an easy life of faith.
So I hope we can all remember. God, who hates sin, shows no grace or mercy to those who hide it, confess it, do not confess it, and do not repent. But when we humbly confess and confess our sins to the Lord and ask for mercy, the Lord cleanses us on the basis of the blood shed on Calvary's cross. He took all of the above and paid the price for sin by dying on the cross. The sins that the Lord paid for on the cross are mine and yours. Your blood was shed for me and your sins.
Therefore, you and I must realize the seriousness of sin deeply. Sin causes wrath before a righteous God. He is so righteous that he paid the price by nailing him to the cross, even though he was his only begotten Son.
Our sins are the nailing of Jesus' hands and feet, and the scourge of His body should never be taken lightly. The penalty for sin is death. The cost remains the same regardless of whether the party directly suffers it or our Lord receives it instead. Jesus died on the cross to save us.
Dear saints, Meditate deeply on the fact that God, the only begotten Son, suffered alone because of the sins you and I have committed. If your parents or children suffer because of the seeds of iniquity you sowed, would you take it lightly? Or would you hate that sin? It would not be an exaggeration to say that the more ignorant of sin, the less gratitude and emotion for grace. Those who do not hate sin are those who do not know the love of the cross that God gave them.
A righteous God makes righteous judgments. He judges lies and judges those who block the truth of God with unrighteousness. Christians are saved by faith. But God judges righteously according to the deeds of those who have been saved.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become Christians who truly fear the righteous God and do their best to seek the kingdom of God and righteousness.