************ Sermon on Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 9-11 ************
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on November 27, 2005
Q & A 9-11
Romans 2:1-16
"No Escape"
Introduction
In the event of a fire or some other catastrophe in your home you need to have an escape route planned out. When navy SEALS infiltrate an enemy location they always make sure they have an escape route. After he killed President Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth fled for safety along a predetermined escape route. In the years leading up to the Civil War, blacks in America had an escape route they followed to get to the safety of states that did not support slavery.
On this first Sunday of Advent I want to talk about escape routes – or, to use the politically correct term, an exit strategy. The Catechism questions and answers in front of this morning reflect sinful man's attempt to find an escape route for sin and its consequences; he tries to escape the justice and righteousness of God.
The questions and answers in front of us reveal the extent of our sin and misery. They speak of man's love for sin and his great fear of sin's punishment. Sin is so much fun; usually it is done because of the fleeting pleasure derived from it. At the same time man is in mortal dread of the punishment and fires of hell. So what does man do? He tries to find a way to escape the punishment of sin. He looks for a way to escape the justice and righteousness of God. Sinful man always wants an escape route, an exit strategy.
What a contrast we are to Jesus. We sin and love to sin and try to escape the punishment for sin. Jesus, in contrast, did not sin and voluntarily bore the punishment for sin. The sinful ones try to escape God's wrath; the Sinless One came to earth to willingly bore God's wrath.
The justice and righteousness of God lies at the heart of today's questions and answers. Something big and something important is at stake here – what is at stake is what the Bible teaches about the nature of God and His reaction to human sin. Do we or do we not believe we are sinners who stand under the judgment of God? And, do we or do we not believe that Christ Jesus was sent into the world to save sinners from God's wrath against sin?
The climatic conclusion is that there is no escape from God's justice and righteousness – sin must be punished. However, the comforted Christian knows Christ came into this world to take on our punishment for sin. As Paul put it, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Tim 1:15). The comforted Christian knows his or her sin is punished in Christ's crucifixion and death.
I Is God Unjust?
A Question 9 asks, "But doesn't God do man an injustice by requiring in His law what man is unable to do?"
Paul faced a similar question when he discussed the sovereignty of God in predestination. "What then shall we say? Is God unjust?" (Rom 9:14). Paul's emphatic "NO" tells us that the question is flat out wrong. Paul's horrified "NO" tells us that this is not a question asked by a comforted believer. Likewise, the question in front of us is not one asked by a comforted believer. The comforted believer – don't forget – knows she is a sinner, knows Jesus has come into the world to save her from her sin, and knows she needs to respond with the thankful life. The comforted believer does not question the ways or requirements of God here.
Remember what God requires in His law? "Love me above all," says God, "and love your neighbor as yourself." Do you remember unregenerate man's response? "I can't," he says, "I am unable to. I have a natural tendency to hate God and neighbor" (Q&A 5). "I am so corrupt I am totally unable to do any good and inclined toward all evil" (Q&A 8).
Is it fair that God demands of us what we are unable to do? Isn't this like demanding a thousand dollars of a penniless beggar? Isn't this like demanding a dance from a lifelong paralytic? Isn't God demanding the impossible?
"Is it fair?" Children often ask this question at an early age. I remember the time in 4th grade when one of my fellow students screamed in class during a game and the teacher was unable to discover the culprit; all of us were punished and forced to stay in for recess. I remember thinking how unfair it was. As we grow and mature we learn many things in life are unfair. Is it fair that we have so much when so many in the world have so little? Is it fair that Classis threatens us while nothing is done with First Toronto? Is it fair that someone young and healthy dies while someone old and sickly seems to hang on forever?
B But now the real question: Is God fair? Is it fair that God demands of us what we are unable to do? Is it fair that He requires us to love when our natural tendency is to hate? This sort of question, if you think about it, attacks the person, the character, and the being of God. This sort of question says God made a mistake in His requirements. This sort of question says God isn't sovereign, all-powerful, and all-knowing. This sort of question says God isn't holy, perfect, and just in all His ways. With this sort of question man puts himself over God and dares to judge the Almighty's ways.
"But who are you, O man, to talk back to God?," says the Apostle Paul (Rom 9:20). Who is man to even ask if God is unjust? Can man judge God? Can we by our imperfect, sinful, human standards question and judge the requirements of a just, loving, sovereign, and almighty God? Who does man think he is? How does he dare to pass judgment on God's requirements? Can the clay question the potter, "why did you make me like this?" (Rom 9:20). Can man, the creature, question God, the Creator?
Of course not! Only God, and not man, has the right to ask whether the requirements of the law are just or not.
C But sinful man demands an answer. Is God unfair when He demands of man something man can not possibly keep? The Catechism says: "No. God created man with the ability to keep the law. Man, however, tempted by the devil, in reckless disobedience, robbed himself and his descendants of these gifts." God created man with the gifts and abilities to keep His law of love. But man lost and squandered these gifts by following Satan. Man had the ability to meet God's requirements but he willfully lost these abilities.
To God's ear question nine of the Catechism must sound silly. To Him we must sound like a thief who says to the judge: "I couldn't help stealing, your honor, because I needed money for drugs." "I can't help my inability to love, God, because I am a sinner." An escape route – that is what sinful man is looking for here. Sinful man is looking for a way to escape God's justice and righteousness.
D God has the right to demand that we keep His law. We, however, are not able to. What does God do now? Does He cut us off? Does He act as if the relationship never existed? No, God remains faithful and loving.
Our God is so loving. He never surrenders the claim He has on us. Even when people give up on Him, God does not give up on them. Out of love He sent Christ to be born in our flesh, to suffer and die in our flesh.
This reminds us that if anything is unfair, this is it! We are the guilty ones. We are the sinners. We are in misery. And, yet Christ came to take our punishment. Is this fair? Of course not! But it does show us the Father's love.
II Will God Really Punish Rebels?
A All of us are guilty before God. All of us deserve to be punished. Yet, is there a chance God will overlook our disobedience? That's what question 10 wonders about. It asks, "Will God permit such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished?" Again, the sinner is looking for an escape route. Again, she is wondering if she can escape God's justice and righteousness.
In Western society it is impossible to maintain a law if no one observes it. You cannot send everyone to jail. For instance, most everyone drives 10 miles per hour over the speed limit on Highway 99; that is normal and even expected. Prosecutors don't want to press charges if someone steals less than $50,000. Most drug users don't face charges unless they are also a dealer. In this way our criminal justice system is elastic.
Is God's justice also elastic?
Neither God nor His justice is elastic. God would not be God if He would change and alter His code. The Lord Jesus says, "not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished" (Mt 5:18). This means that sin must be punished.
Many people don't like this teaching. They don't want to hear that God punishes sin. They deny that God punishes sin. Think about this for a moment. To deny punishment for sin, do you know what it does? To deny punishment for sin is to hit at the heart of the Gospel. For at the heart of Advent lies the teaching that Christ came to earth to take on the punishment for sin. To deny punishment for sin is to deny the reason for Christ's coming. Our Scripture passage in Romans 2 is so very clear about God's punishment for sin:(Rom 2:8) But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil ..."
B According to the Catechism, God "... is terribly angry about the sin we are born with as well as the sins we personally commit. As a just judge he punishes them now and in eternity." Sometimes, God punishes sin immediately. He did that with Sodom and Gomorrah. He did that with Achan. He did that with Jezebel. But He doesn't always do that with us. You see, we are now living in the time of God's forbearance or long-suffering. But none of us should ever make the mistake of taking God's kindness for granted; it, says Paul in today's passage, is supposed to lead us to repentance (Rom 2:4).
C The Catechism says God punishes sin both now and in eternity. What is the punishment for sin? To Adam and Eve God said, "when you eat of it you will surely die" (Gen 2:17). And the Apostle Paul can say, "the wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23). The universal punishment we all experience now is death and dying and illness and pain.
But there is also an eternal punishment for sin. The punishment we all face for eternity is the eternal death and fires of hell.
Many people have thought up theories to escape the harsh teaching of hell. Some have said that we will get a second chance. But Hebrews 9:27 says, "... man is destined to die once, and after that to face the judgment" – thereby teaching us that there is no second chance. Others say there will be an ultimate universal pardon. But Matthew 25:46 teaches that after judgment people go either to eternal punishment or to eternal life. And, still others say that in the end only believers will have a continued, conscious existence while the wicked will simply cease to exist. But this too contradicts the express testimony of Scripture (Mt 25:46; Jn 5:28,29).
To deny eternal punishment is to again hit at the heart of Advent. For at the heart of Advent lies the teaching that Christ came to suffer the pangs and torments of hell in our place. This He did out of love.
There is no escape from God's justice and righteousness. Sin must be punished. Either the sinner experiences that punishment or Christ does in his or her place.
III Isn't God Merciful?
A Question 11 is another attempt to escape. This time sinful man pleads for cheap grace.
We have learned that God is not unfair in requiring us to keep His law even though we are not able to keep it (Q & A 9). We have learned God does have the right to punish sin (Q & A 10). "But isn't God also merciful?" asks question 11. This question sounds like the whimper of a criminal hoping for an escape that is not deserved. Again, sinful man is looking for a way to escape God's justice and righteousness. This time, as I already said, he is pleading for cheap grace.
"Won't God overlook my sin? At least this sin? God is just, I know, but doesn't His mercy enable Him to be less rigid?" "Isn't God also merciful?" In this question we hear the condemned criminal plead for a lighter sentence. The guilty one is plea-bargaining, requesting mercy, like Cain, who said, "My punishment is more than I can bear" (Gen 4:13).
B "God is certainly merciful ..." says the Catechism. There must be no doubt about that. The good news of Advent – for comforted believers – is that God is a merciful God.
God's grace, however, is costly. God's mercy does not exclude justice and His justice does not exclude mercy. The two must always be seen together. "God is certainly merciful, but he is also just." God is God, without compromise. Even in His mercy He maintains His law and His justice and His righteousness.
Of course, mercy and justice are not the only attributes of God. Yet these two attributes stand out in Advent. One cannot begin to understand Advent and Christmas, one cannot begin to understand the coming of Christ, unless one recognizes that justice and mercy come together in Christ. In Christ, God shows mercy by forgiving comforted believers. In Christ, God shows justice by laying on Him the punishment for our sin.
Conclusion In July, 4 prisoners managed to escape from the main U.S. base in Afghanistan. Prison authorities were simply amazed when this happened because several razor-wire fences surround the base and areas outside the perimeter remain mined from Afghanistan's civil war and Soviet occupation. Military teams patrol constantly, and the main entrance is a series of heavily guarded checkpoints. An investigation revealed that the prisoners received help.
This is a picture of us. On our own we cannot escape God's justice and righteousness. But we can receive help. In this season of Advent we rejoice that it is Jesus Who gives us this help.
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