It’s Not Complicated For God

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. — Malachi 4:5-6

So to see the beauty in this final text of the Old Testament, you really have to get a handle on that final statement from God — lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. The bottom line is that God is coming again and will destroy the unrighteous. The problem is everyone is unrighteous. Therefore the only one who can save us is God because man is in a dangerous pickle — we can't save ourselves. But in these final verses, he does not leave his people hanging. He tells them his plan for their salvation about 500 years before it happens so they can live in that final victory we talked about yesterday. He plans to send a Prophet and a Savior. The prophet Elijah we know as John. And the Savior is his son, Jesus. Thus God saves mankind from his own imminent destruction.

These verses demonstrate that justice and salvation are not complicated and competing issues for God. He's not stumped by our unrighteousness and his need to punish us. He sees a path through our utter destruction without cheating the system. An approach that will not violate his need to uphold justice for our unrighteousness and, at the same time, provide his followers a way to salvation.

But to know God's salvation, we must embrace our total depravity. We are hopelessly unrighteous, and we need the hope of his righteousness. We need him to reveal his plan, justice, and salvation. We need him to proclaim the way, and we need him to provide the way — the way, the truth, and the life in Jesus.

So if you are in a place today where you feel broken and depraved, fear not, brother. Salvation has come. All you need to do is accept it by faith to be saved from your own destruction.

ASK THIS: Are you ready to be saved?

DO THIS: Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

PRAY THIS: God, I believe you will destroy, but I also believe you have saved me.

PLAY THIS: Mighty To Save.