Before I became a Christian I was the ultimate rebel against God because as an atheist I denied that He even existed. Unfortunately, many non-Christians, who do belief in the existence of a god, don’t realize that if it isn’t the one true God, Jesus Christ, that they too are rebels against God. To deny the deity of Christ and to accept some other concept of God is, not only rebellion, but idolatry and a great afront to our holy God.
Sadly, even Christians, sometimes rebel against God when we choose to not do His will and participate in willful sinning. While non-Christians often think little about when they sin, sometimes we Christians also don’t realize how our sinning disappoints an infinitely holy God. I often tell fellow believers, if they don’t think sin is serious, to consider what happened in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned by eating the fruit from the one tree God said they couldn’t eat from, that one sin caused all of humanity, from that time to the present, to become spiritually separated from God. So, we can see how sin and rebellion against God are very serious business.
But praise God that despite mankind’s rebellion, God is patient and longsuffering with us, because of His great mercy – not wishing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance. I like how apologist Dan Story talks about God’s great patience with His sinful creation when he states: “Today, people continue to rebel against God. We curse Him, ignore Him, and flaunt our disobedience. Motivated by pride, greed, and selfishness, people destroy one another and willfully abuse and pollute God’s earth…it’s amazing God has not lost His patience and destroyed all of us. Rather than condemning God for allowing evil, we should be thankful that He withholds the punishment we deserve.”1
And not only is God longsuffering, but in His great mercy He has provided us with a way back into His presence through doing the unthinkable – sending His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross, to redeem us from our sin and rebellion against Him. I love what we read in (Proverbs 16:6): “In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity…” My friends, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice because of His awesome mercy towards us. And not only that, but even when we weren’t seeking Him, He did everything to woo us back to Himself.
Adam’s rebellion brought disaster and bondage to all of mankind, but Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary brought redemption and reconciliation to all those who accept this ultimate gift of mercy. Our rebellion didn’t take God by surprise but what it did do is activate His incredible mercy.
My prayer is that before you go to bed tonight that you will thank God for His wonderful gift of salvation and that in the end mercy triumphs over judgment!
1 Charlie H. Campbell, Apologetics Quotes (Carlsbad, California: The Always Be Ready Apologetics Ministry, 2020), pp. 25-26.