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The Gospel Truth
Perhaps it would help if we understand prophets like wine. They get better, finer, much more appreciated with age. Open them up in their lifetime and they make some sense. Keep them corked for a few hundred years and they blow your senses away. Almost no one understood who the suffering servant was in Isaiah's day. Open him up now and our breath is taken by the awesome and exact picture of Christ on the cross. The new covenant made little sense to those living in Jeremiah's century. Pop the cork now and we can fully embrace and enjoy this wonderful promise of God. It is the same way with Malachi. I doubt his words in 3:1-6 tasted good to the majority of peers. As we uncork his book centuries later, however, all the flavors begin to spill out. The chief flavors of New Testament theology are offered by this Old Testament prophet. So today as we pour into it, I want you to "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8). Malachi spoke of the nature of God. Malachi's people thought God had changed. They thought he no longer loved them (1:2). They thought he no longer demanded their first and best (1:6ff). They thought he no longer meant what he said (2:7ff) and no longer held high moral standards (2:16). They thought he would no longer judge anyone based on belief and behavior (2:17). They thought God had changed. In the bottom line of this paragraph, God said "I, the Lord, do not change." Theologically this is referred to as the immutability of God. His person and work, his plans and words remain steadfast and true. God cannot get any better. God cannot get worse. Therefore, God cannot change. When looking through a bottle of vintage Malachi, immutability means that if God has ever loved you, he will always love you. If God has ever expected you to give him your most and your best, he still does. If God has ever said something in his word regarding spiritual belief and moral behavior, he means it and will hold us accountable for it. The immutability of God is both a stern and a sweet doctrine. So is his tri-unity. While Malachi speaks plainly about God's immutability, the prophet also preaches about the holy trinity. Given, this would have been hard to understand in the fifth century B.C. But put this text in a glass now and you find a sovereign father, a savior son, and a sanctifying holy spirit. God is one. Yet God is "me" and "he." He is the first person who speaks, the second person who comes and the third person who cleanses, all at the same time. Cults like the Arians, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses have long tampered with the doctrine of the trinity to their peril. Today, so-called "Openness Theology" is denying immutability. But Malachi and other biblical prophets speak plainly of the fact that before God created the heavens and the earth, he made a plan that would involve his whole person. God's person has not changed. Neither has his plan. Malachi spoke of how the two work together for good. Malachi spoke of the plan of God. Malachi's people were building a city for themselves and got discouraged. Malachi preached that God is building a kingdom, which ought to make us encouraged. What is being built still is not the city of man, but the kingdom of God. Tasting and seeing God's plan is the most encouraging and exhilarating thing imaginable. First, God clears the ground by sending in "my messenger" (vs. 1). Malachi's people couldn't see him clearly. You and I can. He is none other than John the Baptist (Matthew 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27). John was the last of the Old Covenant prophets who first announced the good news of the New Covenant. The idea of Israel as God's people and the Levitical priesthood and sacrifices would have to be cleared off to make room for a new kingdom of priests of all nations, races, and colors, bought by an ultimate sacrifice. John the Baptist declared this kingdom was at hand. He paved the way. Then he decreased into martyrdom so that the master builder, Jesus Christ, could raise his flag. Of course, the Lord Jesus Christ himself is the one who suddenly arrived at "his temple." He arrived there as a baby brought by Mary and Joseph. He arrived there at least three times each year for the appointed festivals and feasts. He arrived there, one last time, courtesy of prison guards, executioners, and an old rugged cross. This "day of his coming" is actually a long day. Malachi couldn't see the whole day. Neither can we, yet. It begins with the first coming of Christ and ends with his second coming. At the first we all can stand in the day of grace. At the last only a few can stand in the day of judgment. Malachi spoke of the judgment of God. Malachi's people didn't see judgment coming. God put the cross and the second coming of Christ in front of them. He told them saints and sinners will be judged, but the judgments will differ greatly. But just who are the saints and sinners? Saints are people who have been purified by the spirit's "refiner's fire and fullers' soap." Saints are the purified people of God, the church that stands between the two comings of Christ, offering to the lord worship that is spiritual and true. They, along with the Old Testament saints as well, will be standing with the Messiah on the day of judgment. For a greater glimpse of the believers' final judgement, go to 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. Sinners are described graphically in verse five. God himself will testify against their lack of repentance and faith and consign them to their everlasting punishment. You should hope against hope that you are not found among the unorthodox ("sorcerers"), unfaithful ("adulterers"), untruthful ("swear falsely"), unfair (to" wage earners, widows, orphans, and aliens"), and the unworshipful ("do not fear me, says the Lord"). For a greater glimpse of the unbelievers' final judgement, go to Revelation 20:11-15. The Lord does not change. He has made a plan, a covenant, a promise. Those who repent and believe will be saved. Those who do not shall perish. Moses, Malachi, John and Paul all said the same thing about the same God. And all of them, like Malachi, had one more thing to say. Malachi spoke of the mercy of God. Malachi's people felt unloved and unmotivated. God reached out to them with the greatest love and motivation of all. My father and I were never really that close. Even though we lived together after my parents' divorce, even though Dad supported me in school and athletics and even though I admired him for his work, we just weren't friends. That all changed when I was in high school. I won't tell you what I did, but I did something awful stupid. I got caught, they took away my car and I had to wait for Dad to come and pick me up. He had never been overly affectionate or angry with me, not that I could remember. I knew, however, that I was about to get the latter. All he did was show up, get me out of the mess I was in and say "Come on, son, let's go home." "Son." I became a Christian two years later. It dawned on me at that time that my heavenly father had done the same thing my earthly father did a few years earlier. In spite of my sin, selfishness and screw-ups, he loved me, forgave me and called me his son. That's mercy, and that will never, never change.
Now do you see what Malachi saw? He saw an unchanging God who made an unstoppable plan to offer an unbroken promise to escape an unyielding judgment with unending mercy. Drink it in.
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