"The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread" (Isaiah 8:13).
"And he will be a sanctuary" (Isaiah 8:14).
Interesting, is it not, how the first verse speaks of fearing God yet as the thought continues into the next verse it there speaks of this same God whom we are to fear as being the very one who is a refuge for us? God is both our Judge to be feared and our Savior to be loved. The one we fear is the one who delivers us from fear of him and his judgments.
Sinful human beings are naturally afraid of the God who is holy, for he is the one who convicts us of our unholiness when we see his holiness:
"When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, 'Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!'" (Lk. 5:8).
Peter was afraid to be in the presence of the holy God and so he told God to go away from him. Yet later, when Jesus' followers began to leave him, he asked Peter if he wanted to go away also and Peter replied: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (Jn. 6:68).
So Peter is torn between the two: wanting to apart from Jesus because he is aware of his own sinfulness because of Jesus' presence, and wanting to be with Jesus because there is no other remedy for that sinfulness than being with Jesus. No wonder Paul, also feeling this tension and likewise being torn apart by its force, cried out:
"So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom. 7:21-25).
Yes, thanks be to God for the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ. For he is the one who spoke these comforting words to Peter in his fear:
"Then Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on you will catch men" (Lk. 5:10).
Peter does not need to be afraid of him whom he is to fear as his judge, because it is this same one who says to him:
"I did not come to judge the world, but to save it" (Jn. 12:47).
Nevertheless, judgment and salvation are both to be found in Jesus, just as the opening passage quoted here from Isaiah states. But there is a time for each, just as there is a time for everything:
"There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven . . . a time to kill and a time to heal" (Eccl. 3:1, 3).
It was a time for Jesus to say that he did not come to judge but to save, because he said this after doing many miraculous signs, including healing (Jn. 12:37). But there remains a time for judgment as well.
"Jesus said, 'For judgment I have come into the world . . .'" (Jn. 9:39).
Judgment and salvation: They both belong to God and come through his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is both Savior and Judge.
"The Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son" (Jn. 5:21,22).
We know that Jesus will judge all in righteousness and therefore none of us would have any hope of being saved, for we are all sinners and deserve the righteous judgment for our sins. But glory to God! The one who judges us is the very one who gave his own life as a sacrifice and took our sins upon himself, so that the judgment of God upon sin fell upon him instead of upon us. God has had mercy upon us and thus declares to us the joyous words of James 2:13:
"Mercy triumphs over judgment!"
Alleluia and praise God! Thank you, Jesus.
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