January 18
Gen 37-38 | PS 16 | Prov 3:27-32 | Matt 12:22-45
When a relationship fails often you hear someone state that they are shocked, it is as though they never really knew the other person. I often tell others that God knows us completely, that we as individuals know ourselves next best (but if honest often we do things that surprise ourselves), our spouses know us next best, our children and parents next, but everyone else only knows what we show them. We often label others as good or bad, but in reality, "good" people are capable of doing very bad things, and "bad" people are capable of doing very good things. We know from Romans 3:10-12 that no one is either good or righteous, no one. Since our actions are often relative (same action seen as good by some and bad by others) and at times arbitrary (done without considerable thought), our standing really is determined by our relationship with God, either we are with Him or not, whether we are in Christ or not. Our goodness will never be good enough, and our badness is washed away by the blood of Christ if we repent and accept Him. Jesus said in Matthew 12:30, "Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me." That certainly simplifies things. For those who have elevated their actions beyond what they deserve, consider Jesus' words in 12:36, "And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak." This means every time our speech is not disciplined.
As we continue to move through the accounts of the characters in the Old Testament, we see this label of "good" or "bad" difficult to place. Though Abraham was an amazing man of faith, twice to protect himself he gave his wife away to be part of a harem of a country's leader. This is not a minor action. In Genesis 35:22 we see that Reuben was guilty of having intercourse with Bilhah, his father's concubine, yet in the account of Joseph being horribly treated by his brothers who wanted to murder him, it was only Reuben who tried to save Joseph from their hands. We see it was Judah who came up with the scheme to sell his brother, Joseph, into slavery in 37:26-28, and it was Judah who behaved very poorly in his actions in Genesis 38, but it was this same Judah, who we will read about later in 43:8-10, who offered his own life in exchange for that of Benjamin. We will later read that it is through the lineage of this very sketchy character, Judah, that the future Messiah, Jesus Christ, will be born through.
The Old Testament should enable us all to look at our own families and those in our neighborhoods with fresh insight. These families did not resemble those perfectly posed Facebook pictures that we all try to show others. Their lives were messy as are ours. We need to stop brandishing labels of goodness and badness, explaining it based on certain actions. There are enough actions on all of our parts to deserve both labels. That same wonderful person who greeted you at church and prayed with you might be the same person who cuts someone off on the road and gives them a dirty look when they stop at the next traffic light. We need to realize this and boldly introduce everyone to the Person of Jesus Christ. He alone is good. He is our only Hope, our living Hope. If one accepts Him, then when it is time to be judged by the only One who is capable of judging, God Himself, all of those bad actions, those sins, those idle words will be gone, having been paid for completely by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. It is not that this person's actions were so great on this earth, it rests on the perfect work of Jesus Christ. Though we often label others as good or bad, God only sees two categories: those who are righteous by the blood of His Son, and all others. We need to remind ourselves daily of this as we step foot in our respective mission fields.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: