“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:43-48 NKJ
It is such a blessing to know that as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we have been given the mind of Christ because without it, none of us could fulfill this Scripture. When someone hurts us or persecutes us our flesh rises up and wants to react. Acts of injustice make our flesh angry and we want to see justice executed. But in order for true justice to take place we have to fix our minds on the finished work of the Cross and understand that when Christ was resurrected; God executed justice throughout the earth.
In understanding this truth we are able to put the acts of our flesh to death and pray for those who have committed an injustice against us. Whether it is a person, a government, or a world power that has come against us or persecuted us; the One true power, Jesus Christ, already paid the price for the injustice. And when we give our earthly minds over to the control of His Spirit we are able to love and pray for them. If it is difficult to do this then we have to ask ourselves what our true motive is in desiring justice to be executed right now!
If each of us received the punishment that we deserve for all the wrong we have done to others; we would all be punished severely. But in His great love and compassion for us God offered up His Son in our place at the Cross! And it is because of this sacrifice of love that we are not punished for the very things we deserve to be punished for. The hardest thing to understand is that Jesus also sacrificed His life for those who commit an injustice against us or persecute us too. It is in comprehending that sacrificial love of Jesus Christ where we will find the power to love and pray for those who hurt us through acts of injustice or persecution.
This is why verse 48 says, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” In our humanness it is impossible to be perfect for there was only one who has ever walked the earth who was perfect, and that was Jesus Christ. So we know that Jesus is not telling us we can literally be perfect. He is telling us that His Spirit in us perfects us when we believe by faith that we have His mind in us! Jesus set the example for us to follow in Luke 23:34-35. It reads, “Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”
How often does the enemy sneer at us in the midst of an injustice and say things like, “Oh you are a Christian, save yourself oh mighty Christian!” And how many times in the midst of an injustice do we want to save ourselves by acting out and making things right in our own strength? This is the very thing the enemy wants us to do because he knows that in our own strength, we will fail! This is why when we suffer an injustice or are persecuted; we must submit ourselves under the power and authority of the Holy Spirit. We must resist the devil’s temptation to act out, and pray in love for those who have offended us.
This is when we will see God, who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can think or imagine; act on our behalf. Our willingness to let God be God opens the door for God to work in ways we can’t even fathom! Romans 8:31-34 confirms this truth. It says, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”
In believing this we will be able to stand with faith filled assurance that what is spoken in Romans 8:28 will come to pass when we suffer an injustice or are persecuted. It says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Prayer: I want to encourage you today to give God permission to act on your behalf for all injustice that has been done to you or that will be done to you in the future. Let us join together in prayer for all those who have inflicted wounds of injustice against us or persecuted us. And let us pray for one another that we will not become proud, thinking that we have no injustice in us. We are filled with the flesh of injustice, but Christ died for it so that we could put it to death; by submitting our will to the will of God. May we be strengthened in the revelation of Jesus Christ today and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit today and every day! Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment