A lot of people think that God can do anything He wants to do; BUT, He can’t.
He cannot lie!
He cannot deny His character!
He cannot be fickle!
He cannot overlook sin!
He cannot change!
PRAISE GOD THAT HE CANNOT DO THESE THINGS.
You and I can; and do all of these things! The last week we have seen that grown, long respected men overlooked sin. They showed a side that denied every part of their perceived character. They ignored sin and pretended that it did not happen.
God could never do this. He cannot and could not overlook sin! Once Adam sinned, somebody had to pay the price! God could not pretend it did not happen! God could not forgive Adam. He would have denied His righteous and just character. He could not do that. He told Adam that he would die if he ate of the tree. If God did not keep His Word, He would have lied.
When Jesus was about to be crucified, He asked his Father that if there was any other way, to “let this cup pass from Me”. There was no other way. A righteous God could not ignore sin. This, at first glance, is frightening, in light of our unrighteousness. How can an unrighteous man stand in the presence of an Almighty Righteous God. The answer is simple. We can’t. We can’t stand in His presence in our own righteousness; because we have none. BUT the author of Hebrews, inspired by the Holy Spirit, tells us that we can “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Why? How can this be? Because a Righteous God has become our righteousness. It is part of His character. Jeremiah prophesied, hundreds of years before Jesus’ sacrificial death that God would raise to David a Branch of righteous, a King that would reign and prosper and execute judgement and righteousness in the earth. AND His name is “The Lord our Righteousness”, Jehovah-tsidkenu. The Spirit of the Lord anointed Isaiah to:
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
In proclaiming, Isaiah rejoices the God “has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.”
We have on this same Robe of Righteousness, IF, we accept it by faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. When the Almighty Righteous God looks at us, He does not see our filthiness. He sees Christ’s righteousness.
Satan wants us to live in self-condemnation and remind us of our sins when we come to the Father in prayer. Satan is “the accuser of brethren”. But Jesus intercedes for us and we are clothed in His righteousness.
Now,
WE CAN STAND BEFORE A RIGHTEOUS GOD!
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