June 2, 2012 Where's the Love?

Where’s His Love? Mark 13:13-14 “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong — let the reader understand — then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” WHILE I’m looking at this scripture, I’m listening to Alan Jackson’s song “Where Were You” (When the World Stopped Turning)? The song reflects on the 9/11 twin towers’ destruction and reminds us amid the rubble that “Faith, hope and love are some good things (God) gave us, and the greatest is love.” Can you really match a God of faith, hope and love with the 9/11 tragedy? Jesus’ prophetic words here foretell Jerusalem’s destruction under God’s authority. Centuries before Jesus, God used Babylon to destroy his disobedient people and their temple. In 70 A.D., 40 years after Jesus’ words here, he used Rome – the new “Babylon” (see Revelation) to destroy his disobedient sinful people and the temple that refused to accept his Son. Rome’s soldiers murder priests and then destroy the temple. It will be a terrible, terrible time in Jerusalem. Why? Even in his love, God must judge his people’s disobedience—you must remember that. God is pure. He cannot tolerate sin. Even as he offers faith, hope and love, God ultimately will destroy the disobedient. In his love, Jesus warns his doomed people, telling them how to save themselves. That is ultimately the Gospel message—the message of “repent and be saved” comes from a loving God, who tells you how to be saved. If you do not repent of your disobedience, even in his love, God will judge you into eternal destruction. Pause and consider: you must remember that—for your sake.