Jade
October 17th 2003, 05:17 PM
The Whirlwind is in the Thorn Tree
(Title borrowed from "When the Man Comes Around" (http://theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12105))
God is just.
It is a truth that God’s anger kindles against the wicked even today. The murderers, the rapists, the fornicators and adulterers, thieves, and the idolaters too – God’s wrath still burns toward sinners. A few thousand years hasn’t changed God’s personality and nature. The wages of such is still death. Just as it has been since Adam took the first bite, so shall it be until the last human has returned to the dust from which he came. In Scripture the whirlwind is often used in reference to God’s power and judgment.
Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. --Jeremiah 30:23
But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate. --Zechariah 7:14
God is merciful.
It is a truth that God loved the man and woman that he created and all of their children. He is not willing that any of them should perish. He set down only one rule. Do not eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Of any other tree they could eat freely. He watched these creatures in which He imparted with free-will and hoped they would freely love and worship Him out of their free-will. And out of their obedience he would pour out blessings and abundant life. But they gave into the temptation to be equal in knowledge with the one who breathed life into them.
Although God loved Adam and Eve and wished only good for them, justice had to be carried out. The moment they ate of the tree, they died spiritually. They could no longer walk with God in the cool of the evening as they had one enjoyed. There was now enmity between them and God. In addition their bodies began to die. As it is written in Genesis 5:5, “And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died”
God looked down at fallen man had had mercy on them. He made a way to bring them back. -- A plan that would satisfy both his justice and his mercy. God’s only begotten Son, Jesus would become our substitute. Jesus would pay our wage of death.
Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged [him]. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put [it] on his head, and they put on him a purple robe. –John 19:1-2
But that was not the end. Jesus then conquered death and imputed His righteousness to our account.
And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. –Matthew 28:5-6
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. –Romans 10:9
Judgment
There will come a day of accounting and reckoning when every knee shall bow before the Creator God. Every thought, word, and deed will be judged according to the Truth that was revealed to them. Those who have righteousness on their account will be welcomed into the Savior’s presence. And so great will their joy be that they will sing the praises to God out of a merry heart. Those who are found with sin on their account will be cast into hell. And so great will their torment be that they will grind their teeth in agony.
Blessed [are] they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed [is] the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. –Romans 4:7-8
Grace
But for now the whirlwind is in the thorn tree. Judgment is in abeyance… for the present. We live during an age of grace. A time in which God’s wrath is withheld. A wise man will heed the words of the Lord and allow Salvation to come to them. The simpleminded will trod them underfoot and sneer. This time of grace, however, could end at any time. The apostle Paul implores the hearer of these words to act quickly for we are not promised tomorrow only today, only now.
(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation.) –2 Corinthians 6:2
(Title borrowed from "When the Man Comes Around" (http://theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12105))
God is just.
It is a truth that God’s anger kindles against the wicked even today. The murderers, the rapists, the fornicators and adulterers, thieves, and the idolaters too – God’s wrath still burns toward sinners. A few thousand years hasn’t changed God’s personality and nature. The wages of such is still death. Just as it has been since Adam took the first bite, so shall it be until the last human has returned to the dust from which he came. In Scripture the whirlwind is often used in reference to God’s power and judgment.
Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. --Jeremiah 30:23
But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate. --Zechariah 7:14
God is merciful.
It is a truth that God loved the man and woman that he created and all of their children. He is not willing that any of them should perish. He set down only one rule. Do not eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Of any other tree they could eat freely. He watched these creatures in which He imparted with free-will and hoped they would freely love and worship Him out of their free-will. And out of their obedience he would pour out blessings and abundant life. But they gave into the temptation to be equal in knowledge with the one who breathed life into them.
Although God loved Adam and Eve and wished only good for them, justice had to be carried out. The moment they ate of the tree, they died spiritually. They could no longer walk with God in the cool of the evening as they had one enjoyed. There was now enmity between them and God. In addition their bodies began to die. As it is written in Genesis 5:5, “And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died”
God looked down at fallen man had had mercy on them. He made a way to bring them back. -- A plan that would satisfy both his justice and his mercy. God’s only begotten Son, Jesus would become our substitute. Jesus would pay our wage of death.
Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged [him]. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put [it] on his head, and they put on him a purple robe. –John 19:1-2
But that was not the end. Jesus then conquered death and imputed His righteousness to our account.
And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. –Matthew 28:5-6
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. –Romans 10:9
Judgment
There will come a day of accounting and reckoning when every knee shall bow before the Creator God. Every thought, word, and deed will be judged according to the Truth that was revealed to them. Those who have righteousness on their account will be welcomed into the Savior’s presence. And so great will their joy be that they will sing the praises to God out of a merry heart. Those who are found with sin on their account will be cast into hell. And so great will their torment be that they will grind their teeth in agony.
Blessed [are] they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed [is] the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. –Romans 4:7-8
Grace
But for now the whirlwind is in the thorn tree. Judgment is in abeyance… for the present. We live during an age of grace. A time in which God’s wrath is withheld. A wise man will heed the words of the Lord and allow Salvation to come to them. The simpleminded will trod them underfoot and sneer. This time of grace, however, could end at any time. The apostle Paul implores the hearer of these words to act quickly for we are not promised tomorrow only today, only now.
(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation.) –2 Corinthians 6:2