"I set My rainbow in the cloud and it shall be
a token or sign of covenant or solemn pledge
between Me and the earth."
Genesis 9:13
There is a popular slogan which declares, "Love Wins"
which is often used as a hashtag connected to the promotion of
the LGBTQ agenda and other chosen immoral lifestyles
in America today which are clearly condemned by God in the Bible.
According to some biblical scholars, the seventh commandment,
"Thou shall not commit adultery" extends to include "whoredom in
all it's forms, as well as unchaste behavior-premarital sex,
sexual impurity, and lustful desire under whatever name."
"A Commentary"
J.P. Lange
Commentator Adam Clarke concludes, "Not only is adultery
forbidden here, but also fornication and all kinds of mental and
sensual uncleanness. All impure books, songs, pictures, etc.,
which tend to inflame and debauch the mind are against this law."
"The Holy Bible With Commentary"
-Adam Clarke
While it is true that God loves all people, He will never condone sin
no matter how good and loving a person considers themselves to be.
Fallible human beings striving to be good and righteous in a world
that both defies and denies the existence of the Creator of the universe
are akin to the story of Nadab and Abihu, the sons
of Aaron, the brother of Moses, in the Bible.
According to Leviticus 10:1-3, "And Nadab and Abihu, the sons
of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, and put incense
on it and offered strange and unholy fire before the Lord, as
He had not commanded them. And there came forth fire from
before the Lord and killed them, and they died before the Lord.
Then Moses said to Aaron, This is what the Lord meant when
He said, I and My will, not their own, will be acknowledged
as hallowed by those who come near Me, and before all
the people I will be honored. And Aaron said nothing."
What could Aaron say at this point? While he undoubtedly loved
and was sorely grieving over the loss of his sons, their sin, which God
took seriously, was the cause of their sudden and unfortunate deaths.
It was not only that they had failed to obey God's sacrificial laws
for the priests of ancient Israel, it was their inexcusable folly of
trying to please God in their own way instead of His way.
The same can be said for Cain when he came before the Lord
knowing that he was presenting an unworthy sacrifice, yet, when
God called him on it, instead of correcting himself, in anger and
jealousy he went after and murdered his brother, Abel, who
had made an acceptable sacrifice before the Lord.
For this reason, Cain was cast out of the land forever and
gained the inglorious title of "the world's first murderer".
Believers need to recognize the importance of being
totally surrendered to the will of God for our lives.
As the psalmist declared, "My times are in Your hands".
It is His will be done, nothing more, nothing less.
Furthermore, as a follower and believer in Christ, I know
that it is only because of God's mercy and His grace in sending
His beloved, sinless Son to the cross that I can claim to be
good and righteous within myself.
To paraphrase Bible teacher, Derek Prince: "All the evil
due to me, a shameless reprobate sentenced to death, was taken
to Calvary by the sinless Son of God, so that all the good and
righteousness due to Him would come to me."
Although I am pardoned by My Savior's precious shed blood,
I am still tainted by the stain of my fallen humanity and inherent sin nature.
Life in this lost and fallen world will never be an easy road for believers,
however, Jesus told us this when He said:
" If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you.
If you belonged to the world, the world would treat you with
affection and would love you as its own. But because you are not
of the world, no longer one with it, but I have chosen you out of
the world, the world hates you."
(John 15:18-19)
The apostle Paul further reminds us to be "sober" or serious thinkers.
And as Proverbs 23:7 declares, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he."
This is why it is so important for believers to take every thought
captive into the obedience of Christ. We must also surrender our
emotions at the foot of His cross, especially when we love someone
whom we know is not a believer, or claims to be a Christian yet
acknowledges their sinful lifestyle as "normal" behavior.
It is almost too easy at times to throw in the towel and just accept their choice
out of fear of losing their love, or, as we see so often in our society today, being
publicly labeled as a "bigot" and a "hater" by those actively pushing the acceptance
of perversion as normal and natural and who are influencing people we love
and care about with their flawed message of "Love Wins".
If we truly love and care for people then we have to tell
them the truth, in love, and leave the outcome to the Lord,
while keeping our loved ones centered within intercessory
prayers for mercy- for them and for ourselves-
before the throne of the Father.
This month's final meditation focuses on the apostle John's first letter,
in which the writer calls awareness to believers that God is Light and
there is no darkness in Him. Therefore, as believers in Christ, we
have absolutely no excuse to justify or tolerate sin
in our lives or in the lives of others.
The apostle's words are a timeless message of truth and
of hope for all believers and are as relevant for today as
when first written many years ago.
THE FIRST LETTER OF JOHN
CHAPTER ONE
"We are writing about the Word of Life, in Him Who existed
from the very beginning. Whom we have heard, Whom we have seen
with our own eyes, Whom we have gazed upon ourselves, and have
touched with our own hands.
And the Life, and aspect of His being, was revealed, made manifest,
demonstrated, and we saw as eye witnesses and are testifying to and declare
to you the Life, the eternal Life in Him, Who already existed with the Father
and Who actually was made visible was revealed to us by His followers.
We have seen and ourselves heard, we are telling you, so that you too
may realize and enjoy fellowship as partners and partakers with us.
And this fellowship that we have which is the distinguishing mark
of Christians, is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ the Messiah.
And we are now writing these things to you so that our joy in seeing
you included may be full and your joy may be complete.
And this is the message of promise which we have heard from Him,
and are now reporting to you: God is Light, and there is no darkness
in Him at all, no, not in any way.
So if we say we are partakers together and enjoy fellowship with Him
when we live and move and are walking in darkness, we are both
speaking falsely and do not live and practice the Truth,
which the Gospel presents.
But if we really are living and walking in the Light, as He
Himself is in the Light, we have true, unbroken fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us
from all sin and guilt, keeps us cleansed from sin in all its
forms and manifestations.
If we say we have no sin, refusing to admit that we are sinners,
we delude and lead ourselves astray, and the Truth which the Gospel
presents, is not in us, does not dwell in our hearts.
If we freely admit that we have sinned and confess our sins,
He is faithful and just, true to His own nature and promises and
will forgive our sins, dismiss our lawlessness and continuously cleanse
us from all unrighteousness, everything not in conformity to His will
in purpose, thought, and action.
If we say we have not sinned, we contradict His Word and make
Him out to be false and a liar, and His Word is not in us,
the divine message of the Gospel is not in our hearts."
After The Storm
Yongsung Kim
