There are two readings for today.
SCRIPTURE: Malachi 4
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” [Malachi 4:5-6]
Malachi says that before God’s final judgment, He will send a prophet as great as Elijah to call people back to God – one last change to repent.
Turning back hearts of children and parents is the restoring of social order – the very thing that is falling apart again today with the breakdown of the family.
This shows us how serious the situation is, and why the call to repent is so critical; if we don’t repent (change), the world will be destoyed!
The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist. [Matthew 17:10-13]
Jesus makes it clear that John the Baptist – the prophet who called people to repent – was the last and greatest prophet to come, before God’s stepping in.
The implication then is that Jesus is God stepping in to execute God’s justice.
But the twist in His coming is that instead of executing justice against humanity, He takes it upon Himself, the Son of Man suffering at their hands!
God’s justice is executed, but we do not receive it; Jesus takes it for us!
There is still time to repent; final judgment will come if we do not repent.
And if we do not repent, if our hearts are not turned back to God and each other, our society will collapses, the world will be destroyed.
Our world is still on the brink of total destruction, and the solution is still the same – get straight with God, receive His mercy, return to His will, His way!
This remains the most important message for the church today – repent!
The message that God is love and Jesus’ great sacrifice is important.
But without repentance, without admitting how serious and dangerous our sinful, selfish hearts are, we remain separate from God’s love and mercy.
Unless we change, we will miss out on all that God has in mind for us.
Too many ‘chirstians’ live in the comfort of God’s love (‘I’m forgiven, I’m going to heaven’) without having changed their hearts and lives.
God can only save us if He purifies us; and we can only be purified if we allow Him to expose and clean our sinful, selfish hearts.
This is radical soul surgery, made possible by Jesus’ death and resurrection and the Spirit of Jesus in us, but only possible if we repent and welcome it!
PRAYER:
Lord, sometimes our emphasis on God’s love is misleading. Help me to raise the message of repentance to it’s proper place, alongside of the message of Your love!