Don't Make Me Come Down There!

I'm sure this never happens to sanctified folks, but it happens to me all the time. I'll see some stupid cartoon or hear some silly joke and it will crack me up; but afterwards, the Holy Spirit will start poking me in the ribs and I'll start asking myself, Why did I laugh at that? That's really not funny.

Then, as the Holy Spirit continues poking me, I'll begin plumbing the depths of why it's not funny...or at least shouldn't be. And if I keep digging, God has a chance to get something through my thick head...or heart, as the case may be.

Case in point: I remember seeing a bumper sticker on a car one time that showed the hand of God pointing down out of a cloud in a threatening manner, along with the words:

Don't make me come down there!

Technically, I suppose it could have been the hand of Jesus, but you get the picture. Anyway, I snickered as I pictured God as an exasperated parent, issuing one final warning to scare the kids into behaving before coming down to give 'em a good spanking. (poke, poke) I gotta admit, that's pretty funny. (poke, poke) Hee hee hee...poor God. (poke, poke) I mean, what parent hasn't done that? (poke, poke) We really are like a bunch of little brats, fighting and screaming and getting on God's nerves, right? (poke, poke)

As the Holy Spirit continued poking, it began to dawn on me that many people actually do think of God as a sort of angry father figure, threatening to punish His unruly children to try to scare them into behaving.

It occurred to me that when some people think about God or their relationship with Him, it's almost as if a little mini-drama plays out in their mind that goes something like this:

It's as if they are teenagers who have been out drinking and partying with their friends until 3:00 a.m. As their friends drop them off in front of their house, they are hoping that their parents are asleep so they can slip in the house quietly, without someone there to smell their breath and start asking questions about where they've been, what they've been doing, and who they've been doing it with.

But as they get out of the car, their heart sinks because they see there is a light on. They know dad's waiting up. Busted. They desperately wish there were some way they could sneak in the house and avoid the scolding they know is coming. They are certain that dad's going to be angry, and will be ready to lay down the law and give them a good tongue-lashing.

They slink in the front door, and there's no avoiding his wrath as he vents it on them full force. By the time he's finished with them, they shuffle off to their room feeling like a loathsome little worm who has done nothing but cause their poor, hard-working father shame and disappointment after all he's done and all the sacrifices he's made for them.

Many people can relate to this image of a father because they have experienced something similar in their younger days. As they look back, they may even fondly concede that their fathers were just concerned for their welfare and did it for their own good, and I'm sure in most cases they would be right.

That's all well and good as far as earthly fathers are concerned, but after a bit of poking the Holy Spirit finally started getting through to me. While it's true that our relationship with our earthly dads can do a lot to shape our image of God, our Heavenly Father far transcends any human father.

The Bible characterizes God's relationship with us as a father's relationship with his children because that's the closest thing that our puny little brains can comprehend. The truth is, however, that no matter how good, noble, or caring our earthly fathers may be, it's a comparison that can never do God justice.

As any human father can tell you, some children are obedient and willing to follow the rules, and some are rebellious and insist on engaging in foolish, self-destructive behavior. A good father still loves them, but even he cannot prevent his rebellious children from engaging in reckless, dissipative behavior that sometimes ends up ruining their lives. He cannot keep them from suffering the consequences of their disobedience, no matter how much he loves them. A father's heart may ache for his children to come to their senses, but he cannot impose his will on them and force them to realize the error of their ways.

He certainly doesn't hate his children, but he certainly hates what they are doing to themselves.

Let me say one thing to any parents out there who have had to stand by and watch with a heavy heart as their precious sons or daughters have damaged or ruined their lives by persisting in rebellious behavior:

God feels your pain...and then some.

God had to watch His most magnificent and most cherished creation sever their spiritual relationship with Him with a single act of disobedience, and bring upon themselves and all their human descendants the curse of death.

Believe me, if anyone understands the heartache of a parent with children who have gone astray, it's God.

Like any good father, however, God had to stand His ground. He is holy and just, and He had no choice but to judge sin. But the penalty has to match the crime—that's the way justice works. Unfortunately, sin is an offense against an infinitely holy God, and so the penalty has to be infinitely severe: death.

And "death" here means eternal separation from God's presence in a place of torment designed for Satan and the other angels who rebelled with him.

God the Father judged sin once and for all two thousand years ago through the death and resurrection of His Son. God chose to carry out the just penalty for sin on His own Son so that He wouldn't be forced to carry it out on us. That's how much He loves us.

But if any person remains in their sin by failing to repent and asking God to forgive them and receiving by faith God's pardon and free gift of salvation, then sin's penalty remains unpaid for that individual. Although a pardon—purchased with the blood of His Son—is available, each of us must come to the realization that we need that pardon, and ask for it in faith.

Smile—God ♥ you!

This brings us to a key point, and I hope I can communicate this effectively because it may touch a sensitive nerve for some people.

There is an old cliché in Christianity that says:

God hates sin, but loves the sinner.

Like many clichés, it is based on an oversimplification that tends to mask certain subtleties. Unfortunately, in this case they are not subtleties that should be masked. In fact, they are subtleties that need to be shouted from the pulpit of every church on the planet.

It seems, however, that they are not being shouted from the pulpit of every church on the planet. On the contrary. Churches where you will hear any mention of (let alone sound biblical teaching on) things like sin, repentance, judgment, hell, and so on are becoming increasingly few and far between.

I guess it's not seen as a good way to boost church attendance.

The "subtleties" I'm talking about are an essential part of the gospel, but are widely being glossed over with positive, feel-good messages that are turning the cross of Christ into a bowl of Cream of Wheat—with brown sugar on top.

All right, let's take this one step at a time:

Q. First of all, does God hate sin?

Hate sin? Oh yeah, big time. But it's important to stop and realize why He hates it so much. Yes, it is an offense against His character. But one of the main reasons God hates sin so much is because it ravaged His most precious creation: us. It was sin that separated us from Him, and put each one of us in the crosshairs of a holy God's righteous judgment.

Q. Does God love sinners (i.e. all the unsaved throughout history)?

The world—that's pretty inclusive. So, yes. God loves all of us. If that doesn't clinch it for you, try this:

You don't die for folks you're not fond of.

Q. Now, how did God extend that love?

That is, He extended His love to man by sending His only Son Jesus into the world to die to pay the penalty for man's sin. I could have also mentioned Romans 5:8 again, which tells us the same thing.

Q. But why would God do that?

Simple. He did it so we could live.

Look, we're all condemned to death because of our sin. He did it so that if we change our mind about our sin and believe in faith what Jesus did for us, we could be forgiven of our sin, clothed in His righteousness, reconciled to Him, and thus be able to spend eternity with Him.

And that's exactly what He created us for in the first place.

Q. But what about people who reject Christ and persist in their unbelief?

So, He loves us and extended His love to us in the form of His Son Jesus, who took our punishment on the cross to give us an opportunity to be forgiven of our sin and to be reconciled to God. But if any person refuses to change their mind about their sin and trust in what Jesus did for them, thus effectively rejecting God's offer of grace, God's wrath remains upon that person. His judgment remains in effect and awaits its final execution.

To any such individual, I would say this:

A holy God sacrificed His own Son to save you from the eternal penalty for your sin. He told you so in black and white in His Word. What else does He have to do? Throw lightning bolts at you? Send a flashing neon sign down out of heaven?

Not to get all fire-and-brimstone on you and bum you out or anything, but one thing is certain: If you do not repent and accept His offer of grace, you will face His judgment one day.

Why? Well, forgive me for being blunt, but it's because you're a sinner and you deserve it.

That's in black and white in His Word, too.

Not only will you face His judgment, but you will do so with nothing to say in your defense. What, that you don't believe in God? Look around—duh. Like DNA is an accident. Well, maybe yours is...just kidding.

Or that no one ever told you that although God loves you, your sin has separated you from Him, and that it pleased Him to crush His own Son in your place so that you wouldn't have to spend eternity in hell?

Well, if you've read this far, you can scratch that excuse off your list. Not that any of your excuses will matter—I'm just saying.

FYI: God considers unbelief disobedience, and disobedience sin.

The old cliché "God hates sin, but loves the sinner," although it sounds nice and positive and non-judgmental and is true in a sense, doesn't quite give you the whole picture. The danger is that it allows people who are unwilling to repent and who reject the gospel (or what's worse, give it lip service and go their merry way) to come away from the experience with little more than a case of the warm fuzzies, thinking something along the lines of the following schmaltz:

"Well, God loves me, so it's all good. After all, God is love, right? Love, love, love, love, love. How could a loving God send people to a terrible place like hell for eternity? You call that 'love'? What is this, the Spanish Inquisition? Get real...and chill out."

It makes it easy for people to remain blissfully ignorant of the fact that God's wrath still rests upon them and that His judgment awaits. It naively fails to convey the urgency of coming to God in repentance while there is still time.

Yes, God is love. Yes, God's love is perfect. But remember—so is His holiness (which we can never attain on our own) and His justice (which demands an infinitely severe penalty for any offense against His infinitely holy character...and that's eternal death).

It slaps a smiley face on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This cliché glosses over one small detail:

The gospel was never meant to
slap a smile on the face of a sinner.

It was meant to slap the
smile off the face of a sinner.

Paid in full

When Jesus was being crucified, one of the last things He said before He died was recorded by John:

The single word in the original Greek text that is translated into English as "it is finished" is tetelestai, which could also be translated "paid in full." It was a common practice in those days to write this word (or an abbreviation thereof) on bills and other documents to indicate that a debt had been completely paid.

That's the most important aspect of what Jesus accomplished—our sin debt was paid in full. A debt we could never hope to pay was discharged on our behalf.

If you are a born-again believer, it may grieve the Holy Spirit whenever you continue in a certain sin, or allow your sin nature to get the best of you in some way (which we all do far more often than we even realize).

But God's not angry at you.

God may allow you to suffer the earthly consequences of your sin in this life (although Jesus has already paid its eternal penalty), and will discipline you for your own benefit. The Bible says that God chastises His children because He loves them, just like any good earthly father.

But God's not angry at you.

"Are you sure? He ought to be. I mean, sin is bad. God hates sin, right? Especially what I did last Saturday night."

Well, why don't you ask Jesus?

"Uh, Jesus, one quick question. I know you've paid the penalty for my sin, and I thank you for that. But I feel terrible about something I've done, and I'm sure the Father is mad at me. I mean, it was just unforgivable, and I think that's why I'm afraid to speak to Him. Are you sure He's not angry at me? I mean, I did something s-o-o bad...you have no idea."

Jesus stretches out His arms, pulling back the sleeves of His garment.

"Whoa, those are some nasty scars, Jesus! How on earth did you...oh yeah, right."

Again, the word that says it all:

"Tetelestai."

Paid in full.

Through His death and resurrection, Jesus paid the penalty for all of your sins—past, present, and future—and in so doing made a way for you to be reconciled to a holy God. And if you have not yet done so, He waits for you—in fact aches for you—to simply humble yourself and come to Him in repentance, to ask for His forgiveness, and to freely receive His gift of eternal life by believing in faith in His Son Jesus and what He did for you.

It is only then that you will finally realize that rather than being angry at you, He loves you with a love that transcends anything you have ever known or ever will know.

And you know what? Jesus would have gone to the cross if there were only one person in the world who needed to be saved from the penalty of sin.

He would have done it just for you.

Rewind

So, let's rewind the tape and go back to the scene I described earlier, this mental picture that many people seem to have of God as an angry father. If the father in that scene were anything even remotely like God, it might go a little more like this:

So, you've been out cruising around with your friends, partying, drinking, and running wild. It's 3:00 a.m., and as your friends drop you off, your heart sinks because you see there's still a light on. You know dad's waiting up for you.

As you approach the house, sorrow and regret begin to fill your heart as you realize how much your selfish, rebellious behavior must grieve your father. It starts to dawn on you how wrong and foolish you've been, and you wish you could just sneak past him somehow rather than endure the wrath you know you deserve.

You mentally rehearse your pathetic apologies and your lame intentions to turn over a new leaf. At the same time, you brace yourself for the condemnation that you're sure is about to be heaped upon you, knowing full well that you richly deserve it.

But before you even get halfway to the house, something unexpected happens. Suddenly the front door flies open and your dad comes running to meet you. He throws his arms around you and with tears of joy and relief streaming down his face, he gathers you into his arms and hugs you as if he would never let you go. He looks at you through eyes wet with tears and says, "I'm so glad you've come home! I'm so relieved...but I've got you now! You're safe."

"I'm sorry, dad. But...when I saw the light...I-I thought you were waiting up to punish me. I was afraid you'd be angry."

"I left the light on so you could find your way home safely. My precious child, I'm not angry at you...I love you more than you'll ever know."

And as you feel the loving warmth of your father's strong and protective embrace, the sorrow and guilt that you felt over your foolish, rebellious behavior melts away in the radiance of his perfect love and acceptance.

OK, maybe it's not a perfect analogy, but I hope you get the picture. Satan will absolutely knock himself silly to keep you from believing the scene I just described. He loves to keep people believing God is a vindictive, implacable taskmaster, just looking for an excuse to punish people:

"So, you think you can blow off my commandments, huh? Well, we'll just see about that! Mua ha ha ha ha...gotcha! Oh, excuse me, did you just take my name in vain? Yeah? Well, flame on, baby! Mua ha ha ha ha!"

But that's a lie...which should surprise no one, since it comes straight from Satan, the father of lies. It's easy for people to forget sometimes that God actually wants to save people. In fact, He wants that more than anything else.

After all, He sacrificed the life of His only Son to do it.

That's a promise

God's plan of redemption: In the history of good deals, it stands alone as the best deal ever offered to anyone.

• It isn't complicated.
• It isn't contingent on your good deeds or exemplary behavior.
• It isn't something you can ever earn.
• It isn't something you will ever deserve.
• It isn't something that can ever be canceled or revoked.

It is, however, something you must choose.

Oh, but the offer does expire...which brings us back to the bumper sticker.

Whoever created that bumper sticker that says "Don't make me come down there!" is apparently unaware of one ironclad certainty:

He is coming down here.

The Bible says so...and I don't mean it's mentioned in a couple of obscure verses here and there that are open to interpretation. It's a fundamental theme that runs all the way through the Bible from start to finish.

In spite of the fact that the Bible is a collection of 66 books written by over 40 people over a span of roughly 1600 years, the literal return of Jesus Christ to the earth to establish His kingdom is a theme that runs through it from cover to cover with stunning, detailed consistency. Even though reputable Bible scholars may differ on details, few of them fail to see the literal return of Christ clearly taught in Scripture.

There's just no wiggle room on this one. Denying the second coming of Christ to the earth is right up there with denying Christ's divinity, His resurrection, or the divine inspiration of Scripture.

He's coming, only it won't be to scare people into behaving—it'll be too late for that. Jesus is coming to destroy the nations that are trying to annihilate Israel and to establish His kingdom on earth.

I don't know if you've ever read the book of Revelation, but I have—and while there are some details in it that are open to interpretation, you can trust me on this. If you don't believe anything else I say, believe this: You don't want any part of that judgment thing.

But no matter how bad it may be—and it's going to be bad beyond anyone's worst nightmare—the worst part will be that God's offer of grace will have expired. Forever.

We don't have to worry about Jesus Christ threatening to come down here.

He's coming.

That's not a threat—that's a promise.

Greg Lauer — NOV '12

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 NOV '12 

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