Plot Twist

Among the many religions in the world, most of them have one thing in common: the idea that humans are beneath God and must somehow work their way up and into His favor by accumulating good deeds and thoughts. Whether the belief is in one god or many gods, it is generally recognized that he/they are far above us as humans and that we cannot approach him/them without a great deal of effort. Sometimes the belief is that he/they are angry with us and must be appeased if we want things to go well in our lives.

In the Ancient Near East, this effort of appeasement or gaining favor took the form of offerings and sacrifices—sometimes human—of worshiping carved images and of bodily mutilation (see Numbers 25:2, Deuteronomy 12:31, 1 Kings 11:8, and 1 Kings 18:28). Today it can look like praying or repeating specific phrases a certain number of times a day, fasting at prescribed times, giving tribute to statues or images, performing acts of charity, or attending religious services. Many believe that if they simply do enough of these things it will counteract all the bad things they have done so hopefully, when they die, they will find favor instead of punishment.

Unlike those who erroneously believe that they are inherently good, those who recognize the sinfulness of their nature are at least correct about their distance from holiness. But is it true that we must work our way into right standing before God? For many deities worshipped all around the world, this is what is required. And so, for many, who might be reading the Bible for the first time, this is likely what is expected from the God who reveals Himself there.

There are many verses in the Bible where people acknowledged their sinfulness. King David said, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51:3, ESV). The prophet Isaiah declared, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5, ESV). The apostle Paul called himself the “foremost” of sinners and groaned, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (1 Timothy 1:15; Romans 7:24, ESV). And in the same way, the prophet Micah wrote, “I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him” (Micah 7:9a, ESV).

If we take our cue from other religions, we would expect these thoughts to end with a full stop. We are sinful, unclean, wretched people who bear God’s indignation, period, end of story. And we would expect that any hope we have of remedying our situation is wholly and completely up to us. But when we keep reading, we are met with an unexpected twist, for there is more to what Micah had to say:

“I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication” (Micah 7:9, ESV, emphasis added).

Take a moment and read that again. Do you realize how earth-shatteringly unexpected the rest of that verse is? We might expect it to say, “I will bear the indignation of the LORD until I do enough good deeds to make up for my sin” or “I will bear the indignation of the LORD until my family’s prayers appease Him on my behalf” or even “I will bear the indignation of the LORD until he pours out His judgment on me and I perish.” But that’s not what it says. It says, “I will bear the indignation of the LORD […] until he pleads my cause.” God, the perfectly holy and righteous One against whom we have sinned, is the One who steps forward for our defense. He is the One who pleads our cause.

But it doesn’t stop there. It says, “until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me.” There is judgment executed, absolutely. God would not be a just God if He let wrongs go unpunished. But notice the judgment he executes is not on us, it is for us. So, who, then, is His judgment executed on, if not on us who have broken His laws?

His judgment fell on Jesus Christ, on the 2^nd person of the Trinity, on God Himself. As Paul explained, “[B]ut God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (Romans 5:8-10, ESV). And, “For our sake he made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV). And Peter explained, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24, ESV).

When Jesus died on the Cross, He wasn’t just being punished by human authorities for crimes He didn’t commit; He was bearing the full weight of the judgment of God for all the crimes that we had committed and would commit. And He did this “for us,” “for our sake.” So instead of bearing God’s vindication, we “shall look upon his vindication,” as Micah prophesied. Instead of experiencing it ourselves, we observe it. God “will bring [us] out to the light,” instead of leaving us in our darkness, by reconciling us to Himself as Paul wrote and giving us the freedom to “live to righteousness” as Peter said.

Do you realize what a major plot twist that is? No longer do we have to live our lives striving and hoping that somehow we will be able to accumulate enough good deeds that our bad deeds will be outweighed in the end. No longer do we have to live in fear of divine judgment day in and day out. No longer do we have to face death unsure of what kind of reception we’ll receive on the other side. We don’t have to make our own way out of our darkness—truth be told, we couldn’t regardless of how hard we tried.

All we have to do, having recognized that we are not holy and that we sin, is believe that Jesus took our place and bore the judgment that we were due, accept and agree that He is who He says He is—the Son of God, Savior, and Lord—and place our trust in His earned righteousness that He offers to us instead of in our own feeble attempts to make ourselves right with God. He is the only way. And for those of us who repent and believe, He will not execute judgment on us because He has already executed it for us.

This is why, as he is confessing his sin, David can call God, “O God of my salvation” (Psalm 51:14, ESV). This is why Isaiah could hear the words “your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7b, ESV). This is why immediately after his groaning, Paul could exclaim, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25a, ESV). And this is why Micah could marvel, “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:18-19, ESV).

Praise be to God that He is unlike other gods. Praise be to God that He does not leave us to our striving. Praise be to God that He does not hate us for our wrongs against Him but instead loves us enough to take our punishment on Himself so that we might enjoy Him forever. Praise be to God for this most life-giving plot twist of all!

Artwork by Melissa M. Angles Art. 

Used with permission.