But
Who May Abide the Day of His Coming?
Introduction
– It becomes more amazing each year the Messiah is sung, to
consider the fact that unregenerate men come to sing or to hear this piece of
music, while shaking their theological fists at the very words being sung. There is also an unbelieving ‘church’ culture
that looks to the manger for sweet sentimental moments but refuses to submit to
the very message they ‘adore’. The
simple answer to the question posed by Malachi, of course, is “no one – no, not
one”. And yet, this is the heart of the
good news of Jesus Christ.
Malachi, Messenger, Angel – In both Greek and Hebrew, the word for
‘messenger’ and ‘angel’ is the same. In
Greek it is angelos,
and in Hebrew, the word is malachi. John the Baptist and Jesus Christ are both
prophesied of here as angels of the Lord, and Jesus as the angel of the
covenant. We see that Jesus is the Angel
of the Lord (the only uncreated Messenger), the One who has always brought the
Word of the covenant to God’s people.
This prophecy declared that He was coming to do just that again.
“Suddenly” – Malachi’s message
centers on the compromised lifestyles and cultures of God’s people. And this message is given in the context of
the second temple built during Ezra and Nehemiah. The Lord is going to come to this temple as
well. And though long foretold and
expected, Christ came unknown and unexpected. When first brought to the temple, only Simeon
and Anna recognize Him (Luke 2:25ff). At
the age of twelve, Jesus is teaching at the temple, but no one knows who He is
(Luke 2:41ff). The Lord later purges the
temple with a whip of cords, but no one believes it is His temple (John
2:13ff). Finally, the Lord Jesus comes
to that temple one more time in 70AD in His judgment upon that temple’s
unbelief and rejection of Him as Messiah (Matt 24).
“But Who Can Endure” – He is the Messenger in whom you
delight. But how many delight in the
celebration of Christ’s coming and yet never deal with its significance? Some want to simply enjoy ‘the holidays’,
like someone helping themselves to the trimmings without ever touching the main
course. Others hope that celebrating
Christmas might be a means of bringing world-peace. In a strange but similar way, that is what
those in Christ’s day were hoping for in a Messiah as well – deliverance from
foreign enemies and peace in their land.
But all of this fails to deal with the greater and more grievous bondage
to sin from which we need deliverance.
When this Messenger comes, He does have ‘good news’ but only because He
has such ‘bad news’ as well.
“And He Shall Purify” – His coming is
anything but passive. Jesus does not
come hoping to save the world. He came
to save the world (John
Who are the Sons of Levi? – In the day of Malachi, the sons of
Levi, those priests of the old covenant, were unfaithful ministers of the words
and mercies of God (Mal 2:1-9). Their
faces were defiled (2:3), and they had corrupted the covenant with God (v8),
causing many to stumble. It is
interesting to note that after Jesus’ ascension, Acts 6:7 records that “a
great many of the priests were obedient to the faith”. It is good to remember that when the gospel goes
forth, so many of those who were hardened to God and were a great detriment to
a society are truly redeemed, reborn, and reinstated into beautiful and useful
work for the kingdom.
The Messiah, in Whom You Delight – Jesus did come at a
particular time in history. But in
another sense, His coming is not restrained by that event. Wherever the gospel is preached, the Lord is
come. He has come upon us again.
Face to Face
with Your Judge and Savior
– God brought judgment many times to
The
‘Suddenness’ of Ongoing Refining
– Why should Christians celebrate Advent? Hasn’t Jesus already come? Yes, of course. And in Christ your salvation is secure – and
there is such glory to celebrate simply in that. But He continues to come to us by His Spirit
through the Word and sacraments. Each
time we gather to worship we will find this Refiner’s Fire once again working
upon our flesh, making us more and more into the image of Christ. The work is often ‘sudden’ because we are so
often blind to our own shortcomings. But
in our worship, in our submission to the Word, and in our relationships to one
another, we will find Him ‘coming’ again and again, completing in us what He
has begun.
An Offering In
Righteousness –
By the work of Christ, and only by His work, we can fully satisfy the
requirement in Romans 12:1, presenting our bodies as living sacrifices, holy,
acceptable to God. This is your reasonable
service. And for those who long for His
final coming, it is their delight.
Dave
Hatcher, December 15, 2002