The Cross was no joke!
- Have you ever found yourself in a low place?
- Do you recall ever participating in something or joining into a conversation & later experiencing deep, penetrating regret?
If so, then you will be able to identify with Habakkuk, the prophet of God. He was in a low place because he had just finished writing about the calamity of the Chaldeans (the enemy of the people of God living in Judah). He composed the prophecy given to him from God, recounting how the enemy of God’s people came to his beloved land for the single purpose of violence. The enemy attacked them, even laughing as the task was accomplished. See with me the description Habakkuk gives regarding the enemy.
“Their horses are swifter than leopards
(The Book of Habakkuk 1: 8-11 NASB)
And keener than wolves in the evening.
Their horsemen come galloping,
Their horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour.
All of them come for violence.
Their horde of faces moves forward.
They collect captives like sand.
They mock at kings
And rulers are a laughing matter to them.
They laugh at every fortress
And heap up rubble to capture it.
Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on.
But they will be held guilty,
They whose strength is their god.”
Yesterday, we sat for a photo, and just like a mirror reveals the “trueness” of our image, so does a photographer’s photo. It was easy to see the extra pounds I had allowed to come to my body. The photograph revealed the truth, and unfortunately, this photo was destined to be the representation of me for the next ten or fifteen years. This image was what EVERYONE would see whenever they opened the church directory.
- The truth hurt.
- The image revealed the ‘truth.’
Today, as I study God’s Word, just as looking into a mirror or setting for a photo, the “trueness” of sin’s damage comes flooding into my mind as I am allowed to see how sin easily overtakes and attacks our bodies.
- The truth hurts.
- The Word of God reveals TRUTH!
See for a moment how the enemy attacked the land of Judah and the Chaldeans gave credit to their false god for their victory. We must remember how the LORD knew the outcome of the battle even before it occurred. The LORD told Habakkuk that judgment would indeed come, and God assured His prophet that when judgment came, it would be terrible & dreadful.
“For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
(The Psalms 1: 6 NASB)
But the way of the wicked will perish.”
Habakkuk had a burden in the message he had received from God and also in the sense of the sheer weight of his message. The content of Habakkuk’s burden was a heavy weight to carry and to deliver to the people of God about the LORD’S judgment on them. This was God’s message.
Without a doubt, God’s message was not delivered in a chance way because we only need to look closely at the name of God’s messenger Habakkuk—a name that means ‘embrace.’ Oftentimes, we walk through life, and we need to pause, to ‘embrace’ the tough questions—that we need to ask ourselves.
Why does God allow us to see our sin? & Why does God allow us to see the sin of others?
- Is it only for our humility or to keep us submissive to God?
Or is it also—
- To remind us of the value of our salvation we have received from Holy God? &
- To remind us of the Amazing Grace of God when He saves a sinner?
“But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you,
(The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians 5: 3-5 NASB)
as is proper among saints;
and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting,
which are not fitting,
but rather giving of thanks.
For this you know with certainty,
that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater,
has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
The Cross was no joke!
- Are we numb to sin?
- Are we no longer repulsed by the lying ways of Satan?
Do not even speak, or make sport, or joke, or gossip of the evilness done in secret.
“The Truth” by Megan Woods is a wonderful place to pause, to rest, and to listen as the melody speaks of the devil’s lies and of the truth who we are in God’s grace. Pause to listen. Be reminded Whose you are.
“Let no one deceive you with empty words,
(The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians 5: 6-16 NASB)
for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Therefore do not be partakers with them;
for you were formerly darkness,
but now you are Light in the Lord;
walk as children of Light
(for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness,
but instead even expose them;
for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.
But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light,
for everything that becomes visible is light.
For this reason it says,
“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,
making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”
- May we be reminded of the wickedness of sin & from whom it comes.
- May we continually hate our own sin and not desire its enticement.
Like Habakkuk, we may look at the world and wonder: Where is God?
- Why isn’t he doing something to stop this terrible attack?
- Surely God will not let this continue.
We must remember—CHRIST JESUS DIED TO REDEEM ALL SIN—even our own!
We must look daily in the mirror and even peer at the truth found when looking at a photograph of our own image, recalling that we are sinful creatures saved by God’s Grace. We do not have the luxury of laughing, or making sport, or gossiping about others’ sins when we have enough to consider whenever we look at our own lives and our own hearts.
Let us remember and never forget—SIN COST OUR SAVIOR EVERYTHING!
- Let us like the prophet of God, Habakkuk, exclaimed—
“I will stand on my guard post
(The Book of Habakkuk 2: 1 NASB)
And station myself on the rampart;
And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me,
And how I may reply when I am reproved.”