December 23
Zechariah 1-2
Psalm 145:14-21
Proverbs 30:24-28
Revelation 14:15-20
The Wicked
“The Lord guards all those who love Him, and He destroys all the wicked.” Psalm 145:20 HCSB
The end of Psalm 145 gives us the other side of God’s goodness. Yesterday we discussed God’s mercy and compassion. We saw how He is patient and loving and does not want anyone to perish. He wants everyone to come to Him and gives opportunity after opportunity for them to turn from their evil ways and accept Him. He would love nothing more than to send only Satan and his demons to the Lake of Fire in Hell and for every human who ever lived to spend eternity in Heaven with Him. Unfortunately, Satan introduced evil and wickedness into this world and man chose to sin and rebel against God. He would not be good and holy if He ignored it or looked the other way. Romans 3:10 tells us that “There is no one righteous, not even one.” (NIV) And Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (NIV) So, who are the wicked in this verse? If we are all sinners, then we all would have to be included in the wicked who He will destroy. In His love and mercy, God provided the means of forgiveness by offering His Son as a sacrifice for our sins to all who accept Him as their Lord and Savior. (John 3:16-18) When we accept the grace and mercy He provides, His righteousness is imputed to us. (2 Corinthians 5:21, Philippians 3:9) Instead of standing with the wicked, we now stand before Him clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Therefore, the wicked are those who refuse to accept Jesus and stand before Him on their own merit as sinful and wicked. We would like to think that this verse is talking about the bad people like murderers, rapists, and terrorists. But that is not the case. Anyone who has not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior is wicked.
God’s goodness cannot tolerate sin and evil. He is holy and just and evil is repugnant to Him. If He tolerated sin, He would cease to be good. This is a stark reality, but one that we cannot deny. (Psalm 5:4-5, 15:9) The idea that God is too loving to send anyone to Hell is a dangerous lie from Satan intended to deceive people into thinking that they are ok, and they don’t need to worry about their eternal destiny. (Romans 6:23) As believers, we are thankful for His goodness. It protects and provides for us. It gives us hope and peace. But it should also give us a burden for those who do not know Jesus. It should compel us to share His goodness with others so that they will accept His mercy and grace and not face His wrath and judgment.
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