Jesus Unmasked: The Truth Will Shock You (6 page)

When God judges, it is not because He is mean. He does not judge because He is throwing a tantrum. God judges because His nature demands it.

Because God is just, He will not, He CANNOT overlook sin. God is not a squishy, confused, liberal judge who lets guilty criminals go unpunished. God takes sin seriously. God must punish sin. Must.

Humans, while fallen, are like God in this regard. The reason we have justice systems is because we are image bearers of the One who is perfectly just. We have laws, courts, and punishment for criminals because God has laws, courts, and punishment for criminals.

We love justice because God loves justice. God loves justice because He is just.

Left to Ourselves, We Are in Big Trouble

Because of Adam, you and I are conceived in sin (Ps. 51:5), born in sin, and continually sin as easily as we breathe oxygen. You and I must face the justice bench of God. Alone.

Thankfully, God has another attribute: love.

God did not make up the idea of love and then try to personify it. God
is
love.

God’s love is not a sentimental, whimsical, emotional love that is based on the attributes of the object of affection. He does not love us because we are loveable; He loves us because He is love (1 John 4:8). He loves because of His character and nature, not ours. He loves us despite who we are, not because of who we are.

God loves us because He loves us.

Are We Valuable?

Humans are not valuable, but we are valued.

While that sounds like a great big downer, being valued is far better than being valuable. You see, if God loves people only because there is something about some humans that He is just nuts about, what if you don’t possess that quality? Then God would not love you.

What would happen if you did possess an attribute that God finds loveable, but that attribute fades?

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If God loves you for your looks, will He not love you when you grow old and saggy?

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If God loves you for your sense of humor, does He stop loving you when you are not witty?

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If God loves you for your money, what happens to God’s love if you lose your wealth?

God’s love for you is not based on you, it is based on Him. That should come as a tremendous relief. You and I change, but God is immutable, His love never changes (Ps. 102:27; Mal. 3:6; James 1:17). While your attitude toward God can wax and wane, God’s attitude toward you never changes. If you are in Christ, God loves you as much as He loves His Son. That is a lot.

The Value of a Footstool

What is the value of an object? Whatever someone will pay for it. You can put a million-dollar asking price on your home (unless you are a prosperity preacher, because that would be giving it away), but if nobody will offer more than $250,000, it is only worth a quarter million.

A merchant can put any price tag he wants on his goods, but if nobody buys them, then they are worth nothing. The only value an object has is the value that someone places on it.

You can pick up a brand new footstool at Target for less than a hundred bucks. You could also buy an old, worn-out hassock for hundreds of thousands of dollars. What’s the difference? John F. Kennedy used that footstool.

The former president’s footstool was worth that much because somebody (with way too much extra cash) paid that much for it. If you brought JFK’s ratty footstool to Moldova and tried to sell it, you would get pennies for it. Why? Moldovans don’t value JFK’s footstool.

The value of an object is not based on the object itself but the value that someone places on it. You and I are dirt and water. And yet, God places His special love on us despite what we are worth. This is what makes God’s love exceptional and so amazing.

[Jesus said,] “For God
so loved the world
, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

God’s Love and Justice Meet

God hates sin because of His righteous nature. God loves us because of His loving nature. These two attributes collided most powerfully in one location: the Cross.

How much does God hate sin? He crushed His own Son. The sinless Son of God was credited with your sin and God poured out His fury on His beloved Son because Jesus had been credited with your sin.

How much does God love you? He crushed His own Son on your behalf that you might be forgiven.

God’s wrath and love are most vividly on display at the Cross. If you ever doubt God’s settled anger at sin, look at the Cross. If you ever doubt how kind, good, and loving God is, look at the Cross.

Jesus’ brutal death on the Cross is God’s greatest and clearest demonstration of His wrath and love.

A Shadowy Picture

Over two thousand years before God’s wrath and love collided at the Cross, the Bible records a shadowy picture of His anger and mercy: Noah’s ark.

The people of Genesis 6 were sinning continually and God’s anger reached the point that He determined to destroy the entire world with a flood.

The
Lord
said, “I will
blot out
man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for
I am sorry
that I have made them” (Gen. 6:7).

There we see God’s anger. Here we see God’s kindness:

Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with
violence
because of them; and behold, I am about to
destroy
them with the earth.
Make for yourself an
ark
of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with
pitch
(Gen. 6:13–14).

God promised to destroy the earth with a flood, but He also provided a way of escape — a great big boat. God commanded Noah to do two things:

1. Build an ark to provide an escape from the waters of judgment.

2. Preach repentance to the “continually evil” sinners.

God didn’t just get annoyed one day and open up the floodgates. Instead, He commanded Noah to call men to repentance for 120 years! Now that is patience. That is love.

Success Rate: 0

After 120 years of faithful preaching, Noah had zero converts. Not one person took him up on God’s offer to escape the wrath to come by entering the boat. Only Noah, Mrs. Noah, and three little Noahs and their wives entered the boat.

So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.
Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and
the
Lord
closed it behind him
(Gen. 7:15–16).

God opened up the heavens and released the fountains of the deep. As promised, God destroyed every human and animal that was not in the ark. But God did not kill everyone; He saved those who believed in Him. It was only eight people, but He still saved people.

God judged the world in righteousness and showed mercy at the same time. The water was God’s instrument of judgment; the ark was God’s means of rescue.

More than an Ark

The New Testament Book of 1 Peter 3:18–22 tells us that Jesus is like that ark. Noah’s ark is a shadowy picture of Jesus and His work on the Cross.

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The ark saved people from God’s judgment; Jesus saves people from God’s judgment.

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Those who were in the ark were spared from death; those who are in Jesus are spared from eternal destruction.

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The ark saved. Jesus saves.

More than Pitch

God commanded Noah to “cover the ark inside and out with pitch” (Gen. 6:14). The ark was made watertight by covering it internally and externally with this waterproof substance. It is the word “pitch” that leads us again to Jesus.

According to
Strong’s Concordance
, the Hebrew word for pitch is
kaphar
and it means “to cover, purge, make an atonement, make reconciliation.”
Kaphar
is used 70 times in the Bible to mean “atonement” as it relates to blood sacrifice. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) come from the word
kaphar
. There is only one exception to the use of
kaphar,
and it is here in Genesis where it refers to the substance which covers the ark inside and out.
Kaphar
is the word used to describe the pitch used on the ark to keep the waters of judgment out.

In the New Testament, the word for “pitch” is translated “propitiation.” The New Testament makes is clear that Jesus is our pitch, He is our propitiation.

And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
and He Himself is the
propitiation for our sins
; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world (1 John 2:1–2).

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins
(1 John 4:10).

Jesus is the pitch that saves us from God’s judgment.

More than a Door

The ark was a humongous boat. For such a large vessel, you would think there would be multiple doors, but the ark had only one door. To have only one door for such a big boat is remarkable, but we see the significance in “only one door” when Jesus announced,

I am the
door
; if anyone enters
through Me
, he will be
saved
(John 10:9).

Just as the ark of salvation had only one door, there is only one entrance into eternal salvation. Jesus is the “one door” that we must enter to have eternal life. There are not multiple doors. You cannot create your own door. Sincerity in other doors will not help on the Day of Judgment. We must enter the ark of safety through the only door that actually exists, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Is Our Ark

> Jesus is the ark of our salvation.

> Jesus is our propitiation, our atonement, the “pitch” who appeases the wrath of God and saves us from the judgment to come.

> Jesus is the only door that we must enter if we will be saved.

The story of Noah’s ark is indeed a story about God’s judgment on mankind. Far more than that, we see a picture of God’s kindness in providing a rescuer for us: Jesus Christ, the ark of our salvation.

How Great Is God’s Love?

How would you treat people who continually hated you? What would you do to someone who persistently, willfully, aggressively despised you?

Think of your dog. How long would you tolerate your hound if he repeatedly bit your hand every time you fed him? When would you send your pooch packing for constantly chewing on your shoes? How many times would your dog have to soil your carpets before you found a vet to administer a special shot?

You and I are worse than dogs. Dogs don’t have consciences; we do. Dogs don’t know better, but we do.

The people in the day of Noah were evil continually and yet, God provided a means of salvation for those who hate Him. That is amazing grace.

God’s forbearance is beyond our comprehension. Day after day, minute by minute we ignore Him. Years of non-stop blessings are delivered to us from His gracious hand and we refuse to thank Him. Decades of free air, free food, free shelter, free everything. How do we repay Him? We hate Him.

And yet God sends us an ark.

Instead of pouring out His wrath, He provides a vehicle of rescue. Instead of destroying us for our sins, He crushed His own Son on our behalf. Instead of obliterating us, He preaches to us, “Run to the ark. Run through the Door. Run to Jesus and be saved from the wrath that is to come.”

Jesus Is the Ark

Chapter Seven — Jesus Is the Rock

No, Jesus is not Dwayne Johnson. Jesus is a much better rock.

A Covenant Promise

It is the 21st century
b.c.
, four centuries after the Flood. God appeared to a man named Abraham and cut an irrevocable covenant (contract) with him. God promised Abraham that He would provide a land (Israel), a nation (the Jewish people) and a seed (Jesus Christ) (Gen. 17).

The rest of the Bible is the story of God making good on that promise. He allowed old Abraham to have children who would become the Jewish people who would dwell in the land of Israel and produce a special seed, a Messiah.

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his
seed
. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your
seed
,” that is,
Christ
(Gal. 3:16).

Supernatural Proof

Israel is the Promised Land because it is — you guessed it — land promised by God. If you want supernatural proof that God exists, consider the Jewish people and the land of Israel.

In
a.d.
135, the Romans booted the Jews out of the land of Israel. The Jews did not return to live in the Promised Land until 1948. For 18 centuries, the Jews were without a homeland, yet they remained a people. No nation has ever survived without a homeland for more than a few generations. It is a miracle that the Jews remained a people for over eighteen hundred years as a disbursed people. That is a good old-fashioned miracle.

Have you ever met a Hittite, Girgashite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, or Jebusite? Nope. Those nations disappeared when they were invaded and lost control of their land. Yet the Jews remain a people despite the fact that they were without a homeland for centuries. Why? Because God promised Abraham that there would always be a land, nation and a seed.

Making Babies

God gave Abraham this three-fold promise despite the fact that Abraham was beyond childbearing years and the land was occupied by pagan nations. God was faithful to His word and miraculously gave Abraham a son (Isaac) who had a son (Jacob) who had 12 sons, including a boy named Donny Osmond, aka, Joseph.

Joseph’s 11 brothers were a tad jealous of their braggart brother and they dumped him into a well and told their dear ol’ dad (Jacob) that Joseph, his favorite, was dead. With brothers like that, who needs sisters?

Joseph was rescued out of the well and brought to Egypt where he was tossed into a jail, interpreted some dreams and became Pharaoh’s right-hand man. Because of Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams, he informed Pharaoh that a famine was on the way and he encouraged the Grand Poobah to store up grain for the coming food shortage. Pharaoh thought Joseph was pretty nifty, so he made the Dream Interpreter his right-hand man.

In the meantime, the famine hit the land where Joseph’s brothers were living and they skedaddled to Egypt to find some food. Surprise — they appeared before their brother, Joseph, and a tearful reunion ensued.

The brothers stayed in Egypt with Joseph and got busy making babies. Lots and lots of babies. No, seriously, like, homeschool family amounts of babies. As the years rolled on, Joseph, the brothers, and the friendly pharaoh died, leaving the Jewish people in Egypt under a not-so-nice pharaoh who enslaved them.

That is how the Jews ended up as slaves in Egypt for four hundred years. For the next four centuries the Jews worked and multiplied. A lot.

The next time you hear someone complain about the minimum wage, just remind them of the Jewish wages in Egypt: nothing. Four centuries of harsh labor, squalid conditions, and frustration. The heart cry of the enslaved Jews had to have been, “When will God make good on His covenant promise to Abraham and give us a land?”

Finally, God sent the Jews a deliverer named Charlton Heston who led the children of Israel into the Promised Land.

Unfortunately, the journey was a bit of a nightmare. The Jews had a tendency to complain about their circumstances and they lacked faith that God would indeed bring them to the Promised Land. That brings us to the wilderness and a jaw-dropping courtroom drama.

A Wilderness Courtroom Drama

The Jews just crossed through the Red Sea, courtesy of a pretty impressive miracle. God parted the water and brought the Jews through the sea while drowning the bad guys. Top that, Hollywood!

Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found
no water
.
When they came to Marah, they could
not drink
the waters of Marah, for they were
bitter
; therefore it was named Marah.
So the people
grumbled
at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

Then he cried out to the
Lord
, and the
Lord
showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the
waters became sweet
(Exod. 15:22–25).

The Jews had just witnessed ten nasty plagues, a Red Sea parting, and bitter water turned into Perrier. The very next scene in the Bible shows God providing bread and meat for them in the wilderness. You would think the Jews would have enough evidence to believe that God was going to take care of them. You would think.

Short-term Memory

Unfortunately, the Jewish people failed to remember the miracles that God had performed for their deliverance.

Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the
wilderness
of Sin, according to the command of the
Lord
, and camped at Rephidim, and there was
no water
for the people to drink.
Therefore the people
quarreled with Moses
and said, “Give us water that we may drink” (Exod. 17:1–2).

Seriously? Just two chapters earlier God provided the Jews with water and here they are, quarreling with Moses about water.

And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do
you test the
Lord
?”
But the people thirsted there for water; and they
grumbled
against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
So Moses cried out to the
Lord
, saying, “What shall I do to this people? A little more and
they will stone me
”
(Exod. 17:2–4).

The Hebrew word for “quarrel” is the root of
meribah
, meaning, they “lodged a formal complaint” against Moses. This was a legal term. Israel was filing a lawsuit against Moses.

Moses was no dummy. As God’s representative to the people, Moses realized that their lawsuit was actually against God Himself (Exod. 17:2). God was now on trial.

A Courtroom Drama

Then the
Lord
said to Moses, “
Pass before
the people and take with you some of the
elders
of Israel; and take in your hand your
staff
with which you struck the Nile, and go.
Behold,
I will stand before you
there on the
rock
at Horeb” (Exod. 17:5–6).

Due to the extreme seriousness of the accusation, God formalized their accusations and created a courtroom. God instructed Moses to stand before the accusers with other elders to serve as the judges and witnesses of this lawsuit.

Moses’ staff plays no small role in this scene. The staff was Moses’ symbol of authority to make a judgment and pass sentence. This
was the staff of judgment God gave Moses to execute justice with Pharaoh.

In Israel, a guilty criminal would be placed before the judge who would use his rod to administer justice on the guilty criminal (Deut. 25:1–3). Here, God submitted Himself to be punished by the very same rod.

In the Old Testament, the accused would stand before God’s representative. Now God stood accused before a human court. God stood on the rock awaiting judgment from His guilty accusers. This is a shocking scene.

God permitted the criminals to place Him, the judge of the universe, on trial. The Creator allowed His creation to pass sentence and execute judgment on Him with the rod of judgment. God, the innocent One, stands in the place of the guilty ones.

We now witness one of the most staggering scenes in the entire Old Testament as God continued His instructions to Moses:

“. . . and you shall
strike the rock
, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel (Exod. 17:6).

Dr. Edmund Clowney describes the event:

Before the face of Moses the judge, with his rod uplifted, stands the God of Israel. The Lord stands in the prisoners dock. Moses cannot strike into the heart of God’s shekinah glory. God commands He strike the rock.

God, the Rock, identifies Himself with the rock by standing on it. God stands in the place of the accused, and the penalty of the judgment is inflicted.

Is God, then, guilty? No, it is the people who are guilty. In rebellion they have refused to trust the faithfulness of God. Yet God, the Judge, bears the judgment; He receives the blow that their rebellion deserves. The law must be satisfied: if God’s people are to be spared, He must bear their punishment.
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And Who Is That Rock?

Fifteen hundred years after this wilderness courtroom drama, the Apostle Paul tells us who the Rock was.

For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the [Red] sea;
and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
and all ate the same spiritual food;
and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a
spiritual rock
which followed them; and
the rock was Christ
(1 Cor. 10:1–4).

Jesus Christ is the rock!

Jesus Christ, the righteous one, stands in the place of guilty people and receives the punishment they deserve. Jesus, the innocent, stands in the place of His guilty accusers that they might be found innocent. Jesus, the Just, was treated as if He were unjust so the unjust ones could be made just.

Jesus was placed on trial by guilty people, sentenced by guilty people, executed by guilty people, to redeem guilty people. The trial at Meribah was a picture of the trial of Jesus Christ.

> God was falsely accused. Jesus was falsely accused.

> God stood on trial before men. Jesus stood on trial before men.

> God stood in the place of men. Jesus stood in the place of men.

> God was stricken. Jesus stricken, smitten, and afflicted.

> God, the innocent, paid the fine for the guilty. Jesus, who knew no sin, was made to be sin that we might be made the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).

Before the Jews were allowed to enter the Promised Land, God gave them another picture of the gospel. God showed them that guilty people need Him to pay the fine for their lawbreaking.

Most of the Jews failed to grasp this, and they continually attempted to satisfy the justice of God through their self-righteous efforts. They missed the gospel. They missed grace.

Have you?