God Is Not Like Us

Psalm 50 is a great psalm that declares God as the “Righteous Judge.” One verse in particular stands out.  God said after listing the sins of the day, “These things thou hast done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes” (Psalm 50:21).  The theme of this verse is that “God is not like us.”

How are we different from God? Most people today if asked to explain the nature of God quickly respond with the attribute, “God is love.” He most certainly is and the knowledge of that provides tremendous blessings for the child of God (See Ephesians 3:14-19). But few would respond with the attribute, “God is just.” Our Heavenly Father is a perfect God of love AND a perfect God of justice. God’s nature of justice and holiness causes Him to despise sin. As the Creator and Sustainer of life, He knows full well the heartache, misery, and suffering accompanied with it. God cannot simply turn His back on sin and fellowship sinful man in just any way. Sin must be dealt with because it separates us from the loving God (see Isaiah 59:1-2). His Divine Word explains thoroughly that which is sin and unrighteousness. Obedience to the gospel then appropriates God’s grace to cover sins. The problem comes when mankind fails to respect God’s demanding standard.

It seems that the moral standard of the average American continues to diminish as each decade passes by. That which would have been scandalous thirty years ago happens with such regularity today that people often fail to give it a second thought. In fact, the word sin has been dropped from the vocabulary of the average American away from the church building. When, for example, was the last time you heard the word sin mentioned in public? It doesn’t happen anymore because sin no longer is a serious problem. No one is willing to accept the blame for sins and failures today and society has not been willing to “judge” others lest they be judged themselves.

But these things are certainly not new. Those that lived in the Psalmist’s day were in many ways like people today when it came to sin. Sin wasn’t something that was serious to them either. And because it wasn’t serious to them, they believed it wouldn’t be to God. Their attitude was, “Since everybody is doing a great deal of it, God must not punish it like the Bible says.” But they were sorely wrong. God told them in essence, “I am not like you. I will reprove you. I will set things in order.” He did and He will likewise do so today. Sin has its consequences. We will eventually reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). And ultimately, all of us will stand in judgment before His precious Son who will no longer be the Savior, but the Judge. As the apostle Paul wrote,.“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (II Corinthians 5:10-11). The day of reckoning is surely coming because God is not like us!

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