God’s salvation results in Him delighting over his people

Through the prophet Zephaniah the sins of the people have been displayed. Jerusalem had become a wicked city with wicked people ruling over them. Why had they become like this? It is because they had failed to learn from God’s dealings with the nations around them. What about our society with things such as royal commissions into corruption? God sees the truth about our city and also about us individually.

God’s character, however, as Zephaniah tells us, is sure and stable. In this passage we find him warning the people that a day of judgement was coming. All they could look forward to was the coming of God’s jealous anger against their sins. We are warned that the whole world is going to suffer God’s righteous anger.

There is hope however because we are also told of God’s amazing grace.  He will gather his people who will come to worship him. How will this come about? There is a hint in what is said about worship. It will happen through the Lord Jesus Christ … God will take the punishment for His people’s sin upon himself which we see in the gospel. Amazingly we even find that God will ‘rejoice with shouts of joy’ over those who are in Jesus Christ by faith.

 

 

Salvation by grace can never be an encouragement for sin

Imagine being told by a holy God to ‘be holy’ because he is holy and that an enormous price was paid to secure this. How a person thinks determines how they live. In this passage, holy living means that the mind needs to be prepared for it. Every believer’s hope should be on the moment they will meet Jesus and when they will receive even more of his grace.

Believers must not live in ignorance as before they received God’s grace in Christ. They must now reflect the holiness of the one in whose image they were made. This means living in reverent ‘fear’ because being saved, by grace through faith, does not mean forgetting about sin.

Wisdom understands that God is not just a Father but that he is also holy. How then are His people to live? … do they reflect a holy God or the standards of the world? Salvation by grace doesn’t reduce a believer’s need to be concerned about sin … it increases it. We should ‘fear’ God because of what we have been and always remember that we were redeemed (bought back) at an enormous cost … ‘the precious blood, of the unblemished, spotless lamb’ … Jesus Christ.

 

The Day of the Lord brings both justice and hope for his people

In this passage we find the prophet calling God’s people to repent of their sins and seek the Lord. There is a partial parallel here with the flood which occurred in Noah’s day. All those outside the Ark perished as a result of God’s judgement.

The nations surrounding Judah, the promised land, would also suffer God’s judgement as a result of their pride and opposition to God’s people … Philistia, Moab and Ammon, Cush and Assyria.

This prophecy is also a warning to us today to seek the Lord … to turn away from sin and pride … and to trust in Jesus Christ alone. Empires and nations don’t last forever only people who are humble and meek … those who have found a refuge in Jesus Christ through what he has accomplished for us in his death and resurrection.

 

 

 The precious gift of saving faith sustains in times of suffering

In this passage we find God’s people suffering because of the incompatibility of faith with the world. The recipients of Peter’s letter were on the receiving end of persecution. He projects their minds way beyond their suffering to their salvation through undeserved grace and mercy.

Death is the ultimate weapon of the tyrant but Christ’s resurrection disarms it. Believers have a hope beyond the grave. In a world which can seemingly take everything, God gives what  can’t be taken. What all people need is faith which receives this inheritance. Faith is a shield, rejoices under trial, is invaluable, and causes us to be deeply in love with Jesus.

The prophets who ‘spoke of the grace which was to come’ to believers were consumed with the subject of salvation. The great Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, saw long beforehand that a virgin would give birth to a child named ‘Emmanuel’ which means ‘God with us.’ He also saw that ‘by his wounds’ God’s people would be healed. Peter is writing to believers who are suffering or awaiting it. He encourages them to look to the glories that will follow.

 

 

 The world and the church can’t escape the Day of the Lord.

In today’s world the thought that we will be judged by God is missing. Part of the problem is the church, which doesn’t like to speak about it. The prophet Zephaniah does however. He was an Old Testament prophet who was from a royal line and lived under the reign of King Josiah in Judah. Josiah brought reforms to the nation when the book of the law, which had been lost, was found.

Despite these reforms, however, the message of Zephaniah is a frightening one … because of sin God is going to sweep everything away … not just a nation, but the whole world. The reason in relation to his people is, among other things, because of the worship of the false god Baal. God is a ‘jealous’ God and he insists that his people worship him alone.

We also find in this passage a mention of someone called the ‘Divine Warrior’ which is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. God is coming in judgement on ‘the Day of the Lord’. God has prepared a sacrifice of judgement which will be devastating for the whole world.  The exception will be those who trust in another sacrifice which God has prepared … what Jesus has accomplished at the cross to take away their sin.

 

 

 

 

 

The cross anticipates the obedience of God’s people because it unites them to their Saviour

The apostle Peter wrote this letter to believers who were facing increasing opposition from the world. He knew first hand that this would bring great temptation upon them and so urges them to obedience.

Peter comforts them by reminding them that, as believers, they are chosen according to God’s foreknowledge, believers in time … chosen in eternity. They are the object of divine affection even though unworthy of it. They have received the gift of faith for a purpose which is to be obedient to their Saviour. They can do this because of the ‘sanctifying work of the Spirit’ who indwells them.

They are also reminded about being ‘sprinkled with Christ’s blood’ through what happened at the cross where he poured out his life for them. It is this that makes the believer’s relationship with God secure and brings about the obedience of faith which identifies them as Jesus’ disciples.

 

 We can live faithfully and rejoice in the God who is faithful

The prophet Habakkuk mourned over his people and nation. He was concerned that it had taken God a long time to deal with their idolatry. God had said to his people ‘You shall have no other God’s before me’. What God had done in the past, as we see in this passage, he would also do in the future. He would judge the nations and discipline his people for their sin but also show mercy.

Nothing can stand in the way of the divine presence coming. God is coming as a divine warrior to deliver his people and it will be him who loses his life for us. We see this clearly as we look to the cross of Jesus Christ. He is the anointed one who has come out to deliver his people from their sins. Jesus has come in humility but he will come again in power … the God who Habakkuk is presenting. Christians are to live faithfully and rejoice as we await his return.

 

 

 

Where we focus has a direct relationship with our appreciation of life

During the American Civil War two opposing leaders met because they realized that conflict would be horrific. One of the leaders deceived the other as to the size and capability of his army. In doing this he tricked the other side into surrender. Deceptions these days are all around us so we need to understand they are part of the world we face.

In this passage we find that Asaph was deceived by the world when he saw that those people seemed to have very few troubles. He didn’t see clearly, however, that it was all a deception. Those who were only focusing on this world would one day be brought to account for their lives and the result would be devastating.

Asaph had forgotten that he was in a priceless relationship with his creator God by faith and that this meant he need have no fear of future accountability to God. We are told that ‘when he came into the sanctuary of God then he perceived their end.’ For believers today Jesus Christ is the sanctuary (Vs17). In him, by faith, past, present and future sin is all forgiven and they are set free. They need never be envious of those who seem to be at ease in this world.

 

 

What about circumcision and division … does it matter?

In the early church in Antioch there had been a problem over circumcision. The church was made up of both Jewish background believers and Gentile believers. The problem arose because some Jewish believers had insisted on the Gentile converts being circumcised … even the apostle Peter had been caught up in it. When certain Jews came to Antioch he stopped eating with the Gentile believers.

The apostle Paul sharply rebuked Peter because what he had done compromised the truth of the gospel. It was a denial that we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone, apart from the law. Circumcision had become an idol and caused division in the church. Paul, in writing to the churches in Galatia over this problem, said ‘neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything what counts is the new creation’.

There is also a pointer here to division among God’s people generally. In this passage we see that the primary matter for God’s people is faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified for our sins. Secondary matters, such as circumcision should never be confused with the primary matter otherwise they undermine the truth of the gospel and create idolatrous division within the church. Paul said ‘may it never be that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.’

 

 

  Jesus promises us joy that overcomes the world

There are times when we can become confused over what people say to us. In this passage we find that Jesus’ disciples are confused because of what he was saying about his departure. They were in a state of grief. Jesus, however, comforts them by telling them that after his death he will rise again. Then they will understand and rejoice. It would be like birth pains giving way to joy at the new arrival.

The resurrection provides the answer to life and death. Jesus’ resurrection guarantees the same for his followers. Our prayers also will become accepted by the Father because of who Jesus is and what he has done. There will be joy and peace even for them in the midst of the troubles that the disciples will encounter.

The disciples thought that they understood what Jesus was saying but they still had more to learn … they would flee out of fear when he suffered and died on the cross but Jesus tells them to have courage because he has overcome the world. Their sadness would turn into joy.