Eze 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

The good guys and the bad guys, the cowboys and the Indians, the Japs and the Yankees, the Broncos and the Raiders- from the perspective of whichever side you are on, that opponent couldn’t possibly be deserving of anything but defeat and destruction. Someone’s race, their country of origin, their team loyalty, or their choice of Gods can cause them to be seen in a very personally unfavorable way. Because of competition, cultural differences, the actions of one that represents them, or a difference of religious belief, the very appearance of ‘one of theirs’ can cause feelings of hatred to rise along with a sense of obligation to assist God in what also must surely be His attitude towards that person. Driven by a seed of hatred, degrading words and conversations begin to water and nourish that seed until the actions of vengeance and malicious aggression are just waiting for the signal for offensive advance. ‘Legitimate’ reasons to support this view of the ‘enemy’ can be discovered in more and more places as the search is rewarded in mannerisms, style of dress, religious doctrine, etc. Destroying the competition for the preservation and glory of your own ‘good guy’ would appear to be well supported by so much.

Surely this would also be God’s perspective and His tendency. Surely He also attaches a negative image and disturbing stench to each of those who would, by their actions or origins, be placed on the side of His opposition. After all, they are the ones who have chosen that way of life and have given themselves to passions that directly oppose Him. They have, by ill fate, been born into a culture or lifestyle that is obviously without hope of God pleasing holiness. While it is His nature to preserve and establish righteousness through the judgment of evil, it is not part of who He is in the least to disdain the person that has been identified with that opposition. For the human nature, there is a certain gratification and pleasure at the utter defeat of the enemy, but for God the pleasure is never in the defeat and destruction- no- but rather in the conversion of the enemy to what is truly right in Him. His ultimate victory isn’t in the obliteration of opposition, but rather the inclusion of that person in the ranks of His own. His love covers all and He sees only potential righteousness and good at the hands of all that will just give in to His offer of life.

If their salvation is His pleasure, then their death must be His pain. No matter what they’ve done, no matter how evil their appearance, He loves to see the power of resurrection have its impact on the greatest of offenders. He sees each one of us in the largest of our transgressions and never aligns Himself against us, never sees us as worthy of death. He never desires our death. This is the heart of our God. This is the nature that has made it possible for anyone to come to His side. Without His desire for the good of all, there would be no hope for any, as even the most righteous and upstanding of us would still seem to be ill clad in filthy rags. There is none that is right in his color, political persuasion, gender, team allegiance, or faith above another in the Father’s desire to hold him close to His side. Many will perish at the result of their ways alone, but the Father’s heart desire will ever be to remedy those sins through the sacrifice of Jesus. For Him it will never be a personal distaste for anything person beyond their choice against Him. To the very end His gaze will be one of love.

Given this attitude from our Father in the middle of our own stinky ways, how can we do anything other than embrace this God heart also, removing personal dislikes from a desire for destruction and defeat. To walk in His ways is to live in His passion for repentance over destruction, and we will find our greatest gratification not in the defeat of any, but rather in the transformation of their ways towards righteousness. As there are eternal possibilities for us in the mercy and love of the Father, so there will be an eternal provision of life for those we allow His love to reach through us.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 19th, 2007 at 5:48 am and is filed under Judgment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.