Purity and cleanliness for relationship

Purity and cleanliness for relationship

Malachi 3:1-4

Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years. 

If you have ever heard Handel's Messiah, this passage will be familiar to you. It is one of my favorites. It is one of the last prophecies of the Old Testament. It speaks of several things, all related to the coming of the Messiah, the Son of God, the Son of man, Jesus Christ.

The last revelation of the Old Testament would have clearly been greeted with much anticipation.

This is a beautiful passage, and to mine it would take pages and pages. Let me be brief.

There are nine things that we would do well to consider briefly.

Preparation

John the baptist would come and call people to repentance and holiness. Love towards God and love towards others. The people needed to see that Christ is coming and because of this should be ready for him.

Appearance

Christ, the Messiah, would come suddenly, and come magnificently.

Delight

Christ, the Son of God, would be delighted in. Not only by men that would eventually believe in, but most importantly by God, the LORD of hosts. This delight from God the Father, towards the Son was critical. Why? Because he needed to fulfill all righteousness. He needed to have the Father completely approve of Him as the sacrifice for sin. He needed to be the second Adam. He needed perfection at the beginning and end of his ministry.

Before his ministry started, after 30 years of life, at his baptism:

Luke 3:21-22

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” 

At the end of his ministry at the transfiguration:

Matthew 17:5

He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

Judgment

He will bring judgment on the self-righteous and the wicked. He will bear the judgment for, or on behalf of, the humble and those who desire his salvation.

Luke 3:15-17

"As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

Purifying

He will purify the "sons of Levi." Like a goldsmith or silversmith refines gold or silver, the Christ will refine the priests to God. He will take what is bad and remove it, and will leave what is good behind.

This is what the Messiah came to do. He came to make a people who are zealous for good works. He came to make a people who would be his brothers and his Father's sons. They would bear the marks and the traits of the Father. This is the work of the Savior.

Cleansing

He is like the soap of the one who cleans clothing. He will come and cleanse away the dirt and the filth. He will present before his Father people that are clean, because they have been washed in his blood and have his righteousness imputed to him.

Righteousness

Because of the work of Christ, they will bring offerings in righteousness. Why? Because they have the righteousness of the Messiah. He has given it to them.

Reconciliation

Because of the work of Jesus Christ, just like the sacrifices of old that were done according to the law, and were used to point forward to Christ pleased God, because they were fulfilled in Christ. These offerings will please the Lord, because they will be completely done in Christ.

The people will have peace with God, and their offerings will please God because they have been made right with God through Christ.

Relationship

This all leads to and is important because God wants relationship with His people. He didn't save them so that they could do what they wanted and just have a good life. No, rather, He saved them because he wanted them as His special people. He wanted them to be His. He loved them so much that He sent His only Son to die for them.

This "them" really is us. We have relationship, because the preparation was complete, his appearance was magnificent and glorious, and his finished work was even more so. Because of the Father's delight of the Son, His sacrifice was accepted and thus the judgment that was ours was put on Christ. Because of this we have been purified and cleansed. We thus have righteousness, reconciliation, and ultimately relationship.

So, now the real big question... Are we living as if our relationship with God matters? Are we actively communing and fellowshipping with God? If not, then we are making cheap the blood of Christ, because we are not taking advantage of what Christ really came to do...bring us into right relationship with the beautiful, magnificent, awesome Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.