Pray
Read: Ecc 3:16-18.
Meditation
Let’s face it, the last two meditations have been heavy going. And yet, even in this seemingly grim passage, Solomon gives us a spark of hope. As we consider this spark in light of the gospel, it bursts into full flame. Solomon has already shown us that injustice exists, that judgment is coming, and that none of us are innocent. But here is where he wants to take us next: Innocence is possible. And yes, that means innocence for you and me. Look closely at verse 17.
Solomon says that God will judge the righteous and the wicked. There is hope there, isn’t there? Because if you can be righteous, then you can be innocent, and you will be judged not guilty. So tell me, which camp do you want to be in? The righteous or the wicked? There is really no question, is there? Righteous people are innocent people. They are people who have a right standing with God.
The immediate problem that this presents for us is that there has only been one righteous person in the history of the world. To our dismay, as we saw last time, we are excluded from the category of “righteous” because we are all guilty. Psalm 14 makes it clear that all people are corrupted, and Romans 3 says the same thing. Now you might be thinking that this does not sound very hopeful so far. Fair enough, so far it’s not very hopeful.
But here is the thing. While the problem is that there has only been one righteous person, and we are thus excluded, therein also lies the solution. That man, that one righteous person, was Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a blameless life. He never did anything to be ashamed of. He never had any secret or evil motives. He never lied. He was perfect, and he was the Son of God. And it is through Jesus, the Bible teaches us, that God has made it possible for our slate to be wiped clean. Because Christ laid down his life so that anyone who believed in him could trade their guilt for his innocence. To all who would believe in Christ, they will be forgiven. Read the Gospel of John. It’s all there!
Be ye doers of the word…
For anyone who believes in Christ, who has confesses their sins to him, owns up to their guilt, turns from their sins, and asks for forgiveness, when that judgment day comes there will be no fear and no guilt, because Christ took it all on their behalf.
And so when God the Father opens the books against us on judgment day, and every sin we have ever committed is brought out, those sins will also be crossed out with red ink, or more accurately, they are crossed out with Christ’s blood. You see, in Christ, God’s justice and his mercy have kissed each other. Because he takes our punishment, we can be declared innocent and righteous.
Death and judgment approach, but in Christ there is refuge. He is a strong tower for the weak. He is hope to the hopeless. He is forgiveness to the guilty. He is the bread of life, the light of life. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is God with us. He is Immanuel, salvation to his people. He is everything, and upon him we stake all our help. Our help is in the name of the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. We cannot be under any delusion on this point. Salvation is one hundred per cent a work of God. And that is not just talking about conversion either. He is everything and does everything. He saves us from ourselves each and every day, and he will bring us safely home. SDG.
Prayer of Confession & Consecration
O righteous and merciful Father, we confess that we stand guilty and exposed before your judgment, with no innocence of our own to plead and no refuge in ourselves.Yet we praise you that in Jesus Christ, the one truly righteous One, that you have offered to trade all the guilt of sinners for his blameless life. We come to you for mercy in him, please wash away the guilt of our sins with his blood. Please help us to sincerely turn from our sins, even as we commit ourselves to do it. We rest our whole hope in Christ alone, we thank you that you have provided him to be our strong tower and daily salvation. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
