Tuesday,
May 25, 2021
Let all sinners vanish from the face of the earth; let the wicked disappear forever. Let all that I am praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! Psalm 104:35
God’s promises are never dropped or
discarded. The will of God towards evil
and good is always preserved and immutable.
This unchanging character of Almighty God is expressed through His Word. Isaiah’s prophecy explains:
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. Isaiah 55:8-11
The Psalmist’s prayer, that sinners (those who reject
the will of God) will vanish completely from the earth, is validated in heaven
by John’s end-time revelation that God will make all things new. Wickedness, in its evil intention towards God
and everything God rules (which is everything), will disappear, never to
return.
And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” Revelation 21:5a
John writes about “new” and that usually means
(to we of the 21st century), the new car, or new
house, or new relationship; we think new-ly
created. But there are also new
times and ways. God’s promises are of
change.
In the final judgment scene we read that all evil
persons, spirits, and even the memory of them will be wiped from the earth and
cosmos as God wipes away every tear, and banishes sorrow and pain. It is the new day promise
of God.[1]
In that final judgment of God every sin ever committed
against God’s holiness and person there are unimaginable horrors for those who
have rejected the loving offer of God to be forgiven. The very thought pains us to imagine people
we love and care for, and even those whom we’ve never met, suffering for eternity. Indeed, for those who think clearly, imagine that
punishment pronounced on your own life.
It is, as Cain said when God put the mark of “sinner”
on the one who murdered his own brother, Abel, it’s too much; I can’t
bear it.[2]
For You Today
The promise of God to those who reject God’s offer of
forgiveness for sin, is they will bear the mark of Cain throughout
eternity. In Alaska the distance between
places years ago was long and marked by wilderness and seclusion. At the start of one long stretch of “highway”
(a single, unpaved cut path), was a sign that stated:
This
is God’s sign for the future…which is much longer than Alaska’s highways.
You
chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!
[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
