Who May Abide The Day of His Coming
"... The Lord, whom you seek, shall
come suddenly to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom
ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who
may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth?"
Malachi 3:1b&2.
Malachi prophesies the event of Jesus' coming.
He came once into this world and he will come again. In both of his appearances
there are those who can stand before him and those who cannot. Who can
abide the day of his coming?
Be sure of one thing, we cannot stand in
our own righteousness when he appears. Jesus' righteousness is premium,
ours is regular. We cannot abide in God's company clothed in our own righteousness. Jesus came in his earthly ministry. The self-assured
were shaken by Jesus' preaching; his hearers, heard words too great to
endure; it seemed to the humble that no one could stand.
Providentially, God spoke through Isaiah
the prophet saying, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith
the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isaiah 1:18.
This pictures beautifully the accomplishments of Christ. His blood was
shed for remission of sins. The Father in heaven reasoned a viable compromise.
Our sins which were seductive as scarlet and dark as red crimson are made
white as snow, so as to present purity; made as plain wool and thus rendered
unobtrusive to God's holiness. Through the rejected Christ and the despised
cross, our just and holy God circumvented sin's penalty and presented
us blameless before him in love.
Jesus comes as the messenger of the New
Covenant. In other words, he brought to us a new legal binding document,
approved by his Father after shedding his vicarious blood. The New Covenant
is a document of provision and acceptance announcing the good news: "peace
on earth, good will toward man". The angel announced at the first
advent of Christ that God's posture toward man is one of good will. By
his shed blood, Jesus can now justifiably sustain righteousness upon the
inept, and lay within each man's being an exact righteousness to that
of his own. His righteousness is premium; it is perfect without debate,
it cannot be contested, it is without comparison. For our sakes he imputes
his righteousness to us, "He has become unto us righteousness..."
I Corinthians 1:30. Many that are floundering in sin will dip in the cleansing
agent and get his stain on them. When we are stained upon, sin is no longer
identified unto our hurt, we are all clean of it; sin is blotted out.
He was sanctified to take away
our sins once and forever. Repent, and receive freely his
righteousness. Dwell at peace with the lover of your soul; the
one we call Father and Jesus his son.
9/07/2002
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