God. In the only measure that truly matters, I fall woefully dramatically short. Listen, it's the devastation of humiliation that is the soil in which tenderness grows. God, in grace, works to rob us of our confidence in us, rob us of our pride in us, rob us of the glory that we think we deserve so that we would cry out, “I can't, I can't, I can't. I can't measure up, help me. Won't you help me?” That first part of this passage is so important to the second part of this passage. The “no” in the first part of the passage is what ignites the “go” in the second part of the passage. God says “No, there is nothing you can do to please me, your only hope is my grace. But there is something I require of you.” Look at verse eight.
"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?"
Men, I would ask you to reflect with me for a moment on this question. Why, of all the character qualities that are held before us in the Word of God, why would God say, these are the three things that I require of you? Why justice? Why kindness or mercy? Why humility? Why these three character qualities? I think it's one of the most important questions to ask of the Word of God. When you come to a passage, you ought to always ask, “Why this? Why is this the thing that's emphasized here? How does the rest of the Bible help me to understand why, out of all of the character qualities that you would recommend to the heart of a man, these three rise to the top of your list of requirements for me? Why is that?” Well, I want to say something about those three words that you may not have thought about before. And I want you to pay very careful attention to the things I'm about to say because I think they are dramatically important. What you have in justice, mercy, and humility are three words that capture the entire redemptive narrative - the entire redemptive story that is captured from Genesis to Revelation. This is the redeeming plan of God captured in three words. God looked down on His sin-broken world. Not just people who are alienated from Him, but because of their alienation from Him, do horrible things to one another. He sees all kinds of misuse of other human beings, all kinds of oppression and injustice and so God decided He would act. He would act to right the wrong. Listen, the ultimate zeal of justice is to right wrongs. So God decides to move in justice. But here's the second word. He would not right the wrong through the vehicle of condemnation, through the vehicle of judgment, but He would right the wrong through the vehicle of mercy. He would find a way to satisfy the requirements of His justice through the vehicle of mercy. Listen, it's God's anger with sin that drove Jesus to the cross, it's God's mercy that drove Jesus to the cross. On the cross of Jesus Christ, justice and mercy kiss. He would move in mercy. Well, if mercy was not going to contradict justice, if mercy was not going to weaken justice, if mercy and justice could work together, then there had to be a righteous one who would satisfy God's righteous requirement by a holy life and who would be the vehicle for pouring out His mercy for sinners. So here's the third word: Jesus was willing to humble Himself. The Lord of lords and King of kings was willing to leave the splendor of glory and to subject Himself to the harsh realities of life in a fallen world. Don't think that the suffering of Jesus began at the cross. The suffering of Jesus began when shards of straw pierced His infant skin in that manger. And He suffered every day of His life. He was humble and willing. So, He would be that righteous requirement and He would be that merciful sacrifice so that wrong would be dealt with in this broken world. The redemptive narrative is a justice story. The redemptive narrative is a mercy story. The redemptive narrative is a humility story. You see in His glory of His holiness, in His anger with sin, the Lord of glory, the creator, the sovereign one, looked down on His world with tenderness of heart and He said, “I'm going to turn this thing around, not by cursing people with my law, but by redeeming them with my mercy and grace.” Now men, God calls you to represent His tender heart and He calls you to be His ambassadors. I love that
Transcript: Session 2
MEN OF FAITH
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