Peter Misselbrook's Blog
Jul 11 2019 - Amos 5:4-27; 9:11-15 – Judgment and hope

Today we have skipped to the end of the book of Amos, stopping only to hear God's words of judgment upon Israel found at the heart of Amos' message.

In Amos 5, God calls upon Israel to turn away from their idolatry practiced at Bethel, Gilgal and Beersheba (5:5); God hates their empty religious festivals (5:21-23). God also hates the injustice and oppression that mark the lives of his people. They impose unjust taxes on the poor in order to subsidise the building of their own mansions and vineyards (5:11-12a). When the oppressed turn to the courts for redress, the wealthy make use of bribes to deprive the poor of justice (5:12b and 5:10). In the face of such behaviour the Lord says:

Let justice roll on like a river,
    righteousness like a never-failing stream! (5:24)

(This verse became the battle cry of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement in America.)

The Israelites have longed for the "day of the Lord" to arrive, thinking that it would mark God's judgment on their enemies and a time of unparalleled blessing for them as the people of God. But God warns them that the rapidly approaching day of the Lord will be one of judgment upon them:

That day will be darkness, not light.
It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear… (5:18-19)

But God does not delight in judgment, rather he pleads with his rebellious people saying, "Seek me and live" (5:4, cf. 5:6). He urges them:

Seek good, not evil, that you may live.
Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.
Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. (5:14-15)

But failure to respond to his plea will mean that they will be sent into exile beyond Damascus (5:27). And that is precisely the fate that befell the northern kingdom of Israel.

Judgment, however, is not God's final word. Amos concludes his prophetic book with a wonderful picture of the day when God will restore his people, uniting them under a new Davidic king (9:11-12). He will pour out his blessings again on the land so that it will yield such an abundant harvest that the reaper will not be able to gather it all in before it is time again to plough and to sow (9:13). And this renewed blessing will be one that will never be taken away.

God will not allow his saving purpose for the world to be shipwrecked by the disobedience and injustice of those whom he had made his own. The hope for a rebellious people lies in the promise of the Messiah. Jesus did not match many of the messianic expectations of his day but he is the one whom God sent to "restore David's fallen shelter" – he is David's greater son. In his life of perfect obedience to the Father he provides the model for human life as God intended it to be lived – a life of compassion and self-denying love. In his death he paid the penalty for the sins of his people. By his resurrection he is the firstfruits of the new creation – a new creation we also have begun to experience by the power of his Spirit. At his return he will make all things new; death and the curse shall be no more and the whole of creation shall be filled with the abundant blessings of God. We long for that day, a day when all darkness shall be banished in the light of God's presence and glory.

Father God, as we look for and long for the day of Christ's appearing, help us by your Spirit to work towards a world in which justice rolls on like a river and righteousness like a never-failing stream. So may your kingdom come and your will be done on earth at it is in heaven.

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Jul 11 2020 - Titus 2:1-15 – The blessed hope

Yesterday we spoke of the power of the gospel to transform lives; it is "truth that leads to godliness" (Titus 1:1). Paul has more to say about this in the passage we are looking at this morning. He writes, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good" (2:11-14).

Grace is a powerful teacher, so much more effective than law. Grace is powerful because it has appeared in a person. When Paul writes that "the grace of God ... has appeared" he is speaking of Jesus Christ – it is Christ who has appeared. He appeared not only to show us the grace of God but to embody that grace by enduring the judgment our sin deserved. The grace of God has come to us in Jesus Christ. And this is why grace is such a powerful teacher for it is Jesus the gracious Saviour who comes to us in all his risen power and says, "Follow me. Learn of me." He is the one who "teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age." He came to save his people from their sins. He came to make us his very own possession, a people who are eager to do what is good.

The grace of God has appeared in Jesus. This same grace of God comes to us ever and afresh in Jesus – grace upon grace – coming to us day-by-day not only to forgive but to transform us into his likeness. And one day that work of grace will be complete when Christ appears in glory and we shall share that glory.

It's interesting that Paul can write in such an ambiguous fashion about "the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ" (2:13). Is he speaking about the glorious appearing of our great God and also of our Saviour Jesus Christ, or is he saying that Jesus is our great God and Saviour?

It's worth remembering that the Jews had longed for the day when God would again visit his people and bring their long exile to an end; God himself would dwell among them and rule over them. Paul had discovered through his encounter with Christ on the Damascus road that Jesus was the one in whom these longings were satisfied. God had visited and redeemed his people in the person of Jesus Christ. Paul no longer waits for God to visit his people with salvation, but he does still wait for God to appear in glory. This also will be accomplished in Jesus Christ; his appearing will be "the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour."

Lord Jesus, we thank you that for our sake you left the riches of glory and became poor; we marvel at your grace and love for us. Lord, we pray that you would teach us more of your grace and mould our lives into your own likeness. Teach us to say no to all that cannot live alongside you. Teach us to pursue those things that display your own holy and glorious character. Lord, we long for the day when you will return and when we will be fully transformed into your likeness at your appearing. May this hope shape the way we live this day and fill our every conversation with the grace of your presence.

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Peter Misselbrook