Malachi: First comes The Smack Down, then comes Jesus

Malachi: Jesus

Part 4 of a 4 part message on Gods Justice and Redeeming Grace



Well to start things off I apologize for the break in writing. I came across some writers block and just decided to take the weekend off and finish on Monday, and well today is Monday so lets get started. As I write this I'm sitting in my favorite coffee shop in Fayetteville that is run in part as a ministry through New Heights Church here in Fayetteville. Their coffee is amazing and it comes from an orphanage/coffee plantation in Guatemala run by an old lady named Mama Carmen. She has such a love for the children who are fatherless and motherless and opens her home to them and teaches them about the Father and about the Son and how they are truly never along. Today's message is dedicated to Mama Carmen and the ministry God has provided for her to pursue during her time on this earth. God bless you Mama Carmen, praise God you are a faithful follower and sister in Christ.

Well last week I wrote about the Smack Down and how God justly judged Israel and her priest for the intolerable acts that they committed against God. Today on the other hand is the promise of redemption, the promise of grace, the promise of the Messiah to come, the promise of Jesus Christ himself. Although not mentioned by name Christ is the main focus of the fourth and final chapter of Malachi. Lets take a look at it, shall we?

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.  “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

Wow! All I can say to that is God is good all the time! "But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.....And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet" I mean God is promising you and I that whose who believe in Him will see Christ, will see the Day of the LORD, will see redemption from sin. That's incredible, and along the way the wicked will be trampled by our feet because we are sharing the good news of Gods redeeming grace. I mean how awesome is that!! It's not that we deserve it either, God is blessing us with this gift, this merciful God whom we trust in is giving us a way out from sins persecution and hold on our lives. It's just incredible to think about. God is promising the destruction of those whom go against Him and the redemption of those who love Him. It's the perfect example of Gods duality as Judge and Savior. How He is able to discern those who follow Him and those who ignore Him. Malachi also states that we(those who follow God) will be healed, we will be like "calves from the stall" leaping and rejoicing for our salvation is at hand. We will stand amazed at the wondrous doings of God and how He is redeeming the nations through His Son. "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction." God is saying here, Look out for my messenger, look out for my prophet, my reckoning upon this world. He is giving us a warning to be ready, to draw near to Him, to make sure we are being faithful and following His statutes. It's not hard to discern that this is speaking of the day of John the Baptist coming and bringing forth the message of Christ. It's easy to see how the Gospel is just overflowing here in the end of Malachi, how God is offering redemption and grace through faith in Him. That's the message of Jesus, that's the Gospel of Christ!! Malachi says that "Elijah" will turn us back to Him, will turn us back to our Father in Heaven! God wants us, He loves us, He wants us to be with Him!!! That's just a powerful statement from our Creator. I mean knowing that God loves me and wants me to be in fellowship with Him just makes me break down and weep at times, because I am worthless compared to God. I am nothing compared to my Savior, yet God still wants me, He still finds worth in me, and loves me out of His compassion and desire for me to know Him. That's an amazing thing to know and meditate on. My King wants me. Think on that and watch this video.

This is the message of Malachi, the Bible, and the Gospel. This is the Redeeming Grace, the Salvation, the Fellowship that God brings us into when we deny ourselves and follow Christ, His one and only Son. It's indescribable, incomprehensible, yet so easy to understand at the same time. God loves us and desires to be in fellowship with His creation because it's why we were created. Adam and Eve may have messed things up for us for a while, but God sent Christ to redeem us and He has come and He will reign no matter what we may do to try and reject Him. When the Holy Spirit and God call you cannot do anything but respond to Him by giving your life to Him. Jesus is the recovery, redemption, salvation from the Smack Down, and I so desire for you to know Him the way that I do. My prayer is this, that you may search your heart and soul and seek forgiveness for rebelling against God and deny yourself and follow Christ, you will be blessed my friends for doing so. I know I have been and continue to be blessed each and every day.

God bless,

James

All scripture is taken from the English Standard Version (ESV) published by Crossway