Choices and Consequences
Posted By Joe on April 4, 2009
We discussed the other day about Christ dying once and for all. Christ's death on the cross paid the ultimate price for the wages of sin: eternal death and separation from God. That redemptive work is completed for you, there is nothing you can do to add to it nor take away from it.
However, one thing that hasn't changed are natural consequences that flow from the choices we make day-to-day, even minute-by-minute. For example, if you run a red light, God has forgiven the sin of you breaking a law instituted by the governmental powers that exist by God's power. But, God allows the natural consequence of you receiving a ticket from the police officer (or those darned red-light cameras--trust me, they work...) who saw you run the light. You made a bad choice, you receive the consequence that flows from that choice.
Another example, if you choose to stand in the middle of the freeway, short of a miracle, you will suffer the consequence of that choice by getting hit by a car. You may die or be badly injured, but you will experience the consequence of that choice.
King David--a man after God's own heart--suffered much as a result of bad choices. David committed adultery with Bathsheba. When she became pregnant, David tried to hide it by first telling Bathsheba's husband, Uriah--one of David's captains--to go home and spend time with Bathsheba, hoping that Uriah would think the child was his. Instead, Uriah stayed with his men at David's palace. Next, David tried to get Uriah drunk and send him home to his wife, but Uriah stayed with David.
If this weren't bad enough at this point, David then resorts to murder!
Now it came about in the morning that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. He had written in the letter, saying, "Place Uriah in the front line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and die." --2 Samuel 11:14-15.
As you probably can expect, Uriah was killed in a battle. At this point, David thought that he had effectively hidden his sin. He married Bathsheba and thought it was all behind him.
God sent the prophet Nathan to David to show him that nothing is hidden from God's sight.
"Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ' It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. I also gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.'" --2 Samuel 12:7-9.
God called David out! He has laid his sins out for him to see clearly. Now God will tell David the consequences of his choices.
"'Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.' Thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he shall lie with your wives in broad daylight. Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.'" --2 Samuel 12:10-12.
Harsh judgment. But consider who David was: he was king over God's people Israel thus having a position of great power and influence. But David's response to this was proper:
Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have give occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die." --2 Samuel 12:13-14.
There are the summation verses. David's confession was immediate as was God's gracious forgiveness of his sin. But, God did not take away the natural consequences of those choices! God spared David's life, but will allow David to experience these consequences of his choices:
- The baby that Bathsheba is carrying, will die.
- David's son Amnon has an incestuous relationship with David's daughter Tamar.
- David's son Absalom then kills Amnon in retaliation for the rape of Tamar.
- Absalom starts a revolt and David flees Jerusalem.
- Absalom has intercourse with all of David's wives publicly just as God had said.
- Absalom is eventually killed by David's soldiers in spite of David telling them to "deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom." --2 Samuel 18:5.
From this point until until the end of David's reign, the kingdom suffered disorder and famine.
Did God forgive David's sin? Yes. Did God allow David to experience the natural consequences of those bad choices to follow? Yes.
You cannot out-sin Christ's redemptive work of the cross. But we should not be surprised when we may spend our entire lives living out and with the consequences of poor choices we make during our life.
The Christian life is a life lived knowing that you and your Creator are reconciled to each other. It's knowing that your sin has been paid for by Jesus so you will not live in outer darkness for eternity. It's knowing that in spite of having to suffer--at times--consequences for the bad choices we may have made, God will give us the strength to carry on and to comfort us when we cry out.
May He Increase!
About the author
"You cannot out-sin Christ's redemptive work of the cross. But we should not be surprised when we may spend our entire lives living out and with the consequences of poor choices we make during our life."
I have been humbled and broken. My heart goes out to young people. This is the one message I wish I could get across to them. I can't change the past and I pray that I will finish well. Oh young person............the best translation of God's Word can be "your" life! You will NEVER regret it!!
Also.....God's man may get in sin, but he will not stay in sin. That is what distinguishes God's man from the man of the world. A sheep may fall in the mud, but he will struggle out of it as soon as he can. A pig will stay in the mud and enjoy it.
Ike, as a stepfather to a 15 year old, I feel the exact same way. But then I remember that we have all fallen short and we all sin. No one is immune from the sting of sin and poor choices. After all, if our heavenly Father has problems with His children, how much more should we expect our children--His children He has loaned to us--to give us heartaches.
Excellent post, Joe - sin's consequences are indeed sobering and may be lifelong. It's amazing that when we cry out to God, He will be near to us, even if we are experiencing the inevitable consequences of our rebellion toward Him. Aaron preached a great sermon on this part of King David's life - the devastation that a few moments of sin can bring not only to your own life, but to your whole community (and in David's case, an entire nation).
Ike - do you work with youth at all? My husband and I work with high school students, and many of them are definitely desperate for loving adults in their lives. If you aren't at this point, you might want to pray about doing it... I always encourage people to pray about it if they have a heart for young people.
*Joe, side note about blog stuff - I tried to change my comment section so that it asks for the name and website like you suggested, but not sure if it worked - if it didn't work, do you know how to fix that?
Howdy!
Thanks for visiting. If you didn't suspect, the post was slightly autobiographical (okay...a lot...). As I've mentioned, I'm facing some big hardship decisions right now with regard to my work life and financial burdens. A lot of it are natural consequences to some poor choices we have made over the past several years. So I'm not expecting God to bail us out of a mess we created. But I also know that I cannot get over this mountain without God's divine intervention.
I just told my wife today that we profess to believe in God, then right now we need to rely on who He is and His promises that He has made through His Word. He has told us not to worry and He's told us to cast our burdens on Him because He cares for us. He feeds the birds of the air and He clothes the lilies of the field. He's told us to be still and know that He is God. What more can we ask? These are promises He has made to us so why do I worry? Oh me, of little faith!
On the flip side, I just told my co-worker not 10 minutes ago (who is also struggling as we are) that I am feeling a sense of calm and peace today and I'm not sure why. Well, actually I am: it is the peace that passes all understanding. It's the same peace I felt two years ago when I was laid off and I put the whole situation in God's hands. I need to do that again, be still, and know that He is God.
On the blog "stuff," I'll send you an email.
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