For More Than two thousand years, believers in Jesus Christ have been meeting on the first day of the week to remember him in the way he appointed. Sadly, only a small minority has retained the essential meaning of his teaching and understands the vital symbol of the emblems set on the table before us. The sacrifice they represent speaks of the compassion of the Father: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Extremes of wickedness
Mankind has consistently rejected God. Even His chosen people indulged in self-worship and gods of their own choosing; yet, amazingly, the Lord did not give up on them. The scriptures provide many examples of those who were so entrenched in willfulness and wickedness they, from a purely human standpoint, thoroughly deserved God’s wrath and punitive destruction.
Manasseh, king of Judah, exhibited behavior so vile and extreme, it surpassed the wickedness
of most of the kings of Israel. Not content with his own degradation, he incited his subjects to sin: “So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel” (II Chron. 33:9).
Despite this extreme disregard of the law, God did not give up on this wicked reprobate but saw in him the potential of repentance. Hence, divinely guided enemies dethroned Manasseh, put a hook through his nose and led him into Babylon, where a remarkable change came about: “And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him: and He was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom” (II Chron. 33:12-13).
Mercy seen in punishment
Evidence of God’s persistent regard is seen in His dealings with Israel. Throughout their history they were wayward; apostasy and idolatry swiftly replaced the occasional reformation. At last the situation was so dire, Israel was compared to an unfaithful wife.
Allegorically, God was the husband whose spouse constantly sought others: “The LORD said… Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? She is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot” (Jer. 3:6). Nevertheless, in the extremity of her sin God was willing to forgive: “Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger forever…for. I am married unto you” (Jer. 3:12,14).
The gracious pleading fell on deaf ears with the resultant expulsion and transportation of the people into the very seat of idolatry itself, Babylon. This was the end of an era; but even under continual provocation, God did not surrender His love and care for Israel; on the contrary, the captivity was part of His purging plan. When the seventy years of captivity were completed and they returned to the land of their fathers, idolatry was no longer practiced among them.
An enemy brought to repentance
Saul of Tarsus was a man of great promise and accomplishment. Tutored by the revered Gamaliel, his knowledge and zeal for all things Jewish was unsurpassed, to the extent that when the new Christian sect was perceived to be a threat to the status quo, he saw it as his duty to persecute to the death both men and women: “And Saul, yet breathing out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of the way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1-2). Such was the terror of this man and his reputation among the Christians that the faithful Ananias balked at the instruction to visit Saul in response to his prayers. But Jesus knew the caliber of this ‘Hebrew of the Hebrews’ and insisted, with the explanation that must have astounded Ananias: “He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel”(Acts 9:15). One wonders whether the statement of Jesus when he appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (v. 5), is a hint of earlier attempts by our Lord to bring Saul to repentance.
These examples reinforce the merciful longsuffering of God who is constantly working to redeem sinners and is tireless in His efforts to bring them back to Him. With this reassurance, what should be our response, first in relationship to the Lord and secondly toward each other?
Correction, not abandonment
We understand that God reproves and disciplines His people: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Heb. 12:6). When, however, circumstances in our lives are problematic and difficult, it is hard to accept that the Lord may be redirecting us in love. Rather, we are in danger of mistaking the Father’s correction for abandonment. God is patient and we must learn to pray and wait patiently for endurance and strength in the time of trials.
Many times during periods of suffering and distress Israel challenged God, thinking that He did not see her need or care for her. She failed to appreciate that there was purpose and direction in the trials that befell her: “And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna.. .that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” (Deut. 8:2-3) We can only wish they had recognized that, irrespective of their misdemeanors, the Lord is always working and longing for sinners to repent.
Jesus reinforced this fact by his statement that no one who humbly sought him would be turned away: “And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). The thief on the cross was a graphic example. Here was a self-confessed criminal, rightly condemned, who justified the Lord and not himself. His cry for mercy was graciously accepted and he died with the assurance of life eternal.
Never give up on one another
Secure in the same hope, it behoves us to act accordingly toward our brethren and sisters. If it is our hope that we are all granted eternal life in the presence of God, then we must learn to work together and accept each other now. I recommend a little prayer: “May God so bless me that I may spend eternity with this person.” This is a sincere and heartfelt prayer if the person in question is one we love and admire, but it requires a definite change of attitude to direct it toward someone whom we find irritating or tiresome.
It is all too easy to think, “He’ll never change, we’re wasting our time,” or, “These people are hypocrites, what is the use of trying,” thereby we judge and condemn those for whom Christ died. The command: “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matt. 7:1), has the connotation of judging with the finality of permanent rejection, thus considering the person to be forever an outcast. It does not mean that we have to accept everyone irrespective of how badly they behave, rather it is to recognize that all have the potential to manifest God.
The day of judgment will surely come for us all, and it is a salutary thought to remember the words of Jesus in this respect: “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matt. 25: 40).
Mercy personified
When revealing His glory to Moses, God declared: “The Lord, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Ex. 34:6-7). The outworking of this merciful character is seen in the forgiveness of wicked Manasseh and the tolerance and understanding of the misguided Saul of Tarsus. He did not give up on them and He will not give up on us.
The emblems on the table before us provide the foundation for this mercy and grace embodied in the words of the converted Paul: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One