Isaiah 33:1-35:10
We can’t keep on ignoring it. Thus far there has always been something else significant to focus on but it comes to a point when we start to buy into heresy. So, here we go with the reckless abandon of a bunji-jumper. At the core of Israel’s understanding of the future coming of the Kingdom was the concept of vengeance, of divine retribution. He is a mighty warrior who will burn people as if to lime and will soak mountains with blood. That sounds a bit ferocious really. It sounds a little dangerous. But that doesn’t mean we can deny it. It is what God has chosen to say about himself. However, it is important that we understand it properly, that we understand the context of it. God’s retributive action is not just for the sake of it. It is not just because he enjoys butchering helpless little mortals; it is because he wants to save his people. He is not just ferocious, he is a ferocious rescuer. I think many of our issues with swallowing this aspect of the teaching of the bible is that we have not properly digested previous aspects. Have we really accepted that we are in a terrible calamity, that we are held hostage in a hostile and aggressive world with a powerful foe who is out to savage us and destroy us. If we had digested that we would be delighted that Our God is going to descend in judgement on our accusers and abusers. We would rejoice that he will stretch out the measuring line of chaos and the plumb-line of desolation. Evil is real, it really does assault us. We need to be rescued. And that leads us on to Galatians...
Galatians 1:1-24
Jesus gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age. Our world is still defined by evil. We stand with both Isaiah and Paul on that one. It doesn’t mean that there is not good in it or that the people around us are altogether wicked but rather that something dreadful and something ruthlessly sinister is in charge around here, corrupting all that is good and working with evil intent. And in Galatians, Paul is at extreme pain to stress that there is only one true rescue route, there is only one true means of escape. And that route is the gospel of Jesus Christ, who followed the will of our God and Father by sacrificing himself to free us from this present evil age. The Galatians were making out that this wasn’t really the case. They were suggesting that Jesus was not in fact the real escape route or at least, not the only one. They were suggesting that Paul had been hood-winked by some of the other apostles or that he had changed his message about how to be rescued because he thought the ‘Jesus-story’ might hold more appeal to Greeks. I read these exact same suggestions in a paper this week. At their root they assume that the authority behind the bible and the teaching of Paul is human. They assume that culture or expediency dictates our message. But we must resist these suggestions. Paul absolutely refutes any such claim. He stresses that no man convinced him of this message and (as we saw in Corinthians) he does not change his tune just because people react badly. No, Paul is utterly convinced that there is only one rescue route from evil because Jesus himself told him so. If we mess with the teachings of the bible or try to re-draw the claims of Jesus then it is Jesus himself who we are denying, it is Jesus himself who we are usurping. This stuff all comes from Jesus and this stuff all points to Jesus. He alone can transform us and he alone can rescue us. He alone gives us grace and peace.
Psalm 107:10-22
He has brought us out of darkness. He has broken away our chains.
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