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Monday, March 21, 2011

The Other Side of the Coin

But the present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3:7 (New American Standard Bible)


The flipping of a coin to decide an issue goes far back into history. The Romans called the practice “navia aut caput” (ship and head) as a ship was imprinted on one side of the coin and the head of the emperor on the other. The British called it “Cross and Pile.” The cross was on one side of the coin while the bottom part of the die used to cast the coin was on the opposite side.

There are two sides to God’s coin that describes His nature and being. In flipping that coin many people expect it to come up on the “God is Love” side every time, meaning He will overlook sin and rebellion and be a benign Grandfather who looks the other way when sin is present or being practiced. In reality God’s greatest perfection is in His holiness. We cannot even imagine how much He hates sin and how harsh is His judgment of it. Because of that He absolutely abhors any blemish or spiritual impurity and there is always a penalty for it that must be paid.

In the biblical history of mankind the story is told that God’s perfect creation was disfigured by sin and rebellion. In the next thoughts following that tragedy God offers Himself as the ultimate payment for sin (Genesis 3:15) and those who believe in what He did for them will receive clemency while He takes the full brunt of His wrath against it.

While one side of heaven’s coin has a picture on it of God’s great love the other side depicts God’s hatred of sin and His wrath toward it. While He is a God of love He is also a God of justice and demands accountability and a payment for guiltiness. It goes against what human nature desires but if we are to believe in God then it is how His personality and being exist in eternity. He hates sin and will deal with it in the harshest terms. The good news is on the top side of the coin is the head of Christ the King who satisfied God’s demand for justice by shedding His blood on the cross of Calvary. In this interesting commentary when someone flips that coin in faith it comes up heads every time.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com