Jesus Isn't Decaf (By Naomi Meyers)

In more than 20 years of parenting and countless moments that warrant correction, I have yet to present any of my children with a list of options and ask them to choose their punishment. Ultimatums, yes. Options, no. In my defense, I was never afforded the opportunity to choose a punishment from a list of options when I was a child either. I don’t know anyone who was. Because I have no experience with the concept, it is not surprising how puzzled I found myself as I read the account of David receiving punishment options. Instead of raining down much-deserved punishment for the deliberate disobedience of numbering his troops, God calmly responds by sending a list of possible punishments from which to choose. 

David was likely caught unawares by this as well. I wonder what crossed his mind as, upon completion of his unadvised census, the prophet, Gad, approached him with God’s list of options? He shouldn’t have been surprised that punishment was coming. David knew he had sinned. It was not an unexpected slip-up. It was not an accidental error. He knew before he numbered the men that it was wrong. He knew as he gave the order that he shouldn’t do it. When Joab urged him to reconsider, he hardened his heart and pressed on. As the final numbers came in, his sin weighed heavy on his heart. In the aftermath, his conscience pricked, David turned to the Lord, begging to be released from the guilty condemnation wracking his soul. (II Samuel 24:1-10)

Wisely, David didn’t ask God not to punish him for his sin. He knew he deserved punishment. But even if he was expecting punishment, he was likely not expecting to choose it from a list. A horribly unattractive list. Not one mild option existed. One was not better than the others. All would end in certain death for thousands of people. Three years of famine. Three months of being chased and hunted by their enemies. Three days of plague. Ghastly options. A torturous choice. David couldn’t make it lightly, couldn’t choose destruction for his people without feeling the inordinate weight of his guilt. It was too much. Responsibility for the lives of his loyal friends and subjects lay heavy on his shoulders. Anxious over his predicament and being forced to acknowledge his own sin had created this abhorrent situation, he makes the only sensible decision. “Let it be God that punishes us, not man. God is merciful, humanity is not.” (II Samuel 24:11-14) And so it was. 

A plague swept across the land. David was left to watch helplessly as his people were struck ill and died. The death toll reached 70,000 men. Still, the angel of the Lord wasn’t done. But God was. As the angel moved to destroy Jerusalem, God’s mercy came to the fore. He called back the angel. Stopped the destruction. Ended the horror. We wonder why. God’s anger had been violently stirred by this flagrant, willful disobedience. So why did He call off the angel of destruction? Why didn’t He just give them the punishment they deserved?  Why did He stay his hand when He was well within the construct of serving just desserts? David answered these questions best when he chose the punishment. God’s mercy doesn’t always give us what we deserve. (II Samuel 24:15-16)

 It’s a good thing, too, this unending mercy of God. We find ourselves in need of it often. Our souls would die without it. It wouldn’t be less than we deserve. Job knew it when he posed the question, “How would it go for you if God examined your heart?” (Job 13:9) What do you deserve in exchange for your innermost thoughts, feelings, habits, secret sins? If God was short on mercy and grace, where would that leave you? What would eternity look like for you then? It takes no genius to answer. It’s quite sobering. If God punished us according to our sins, our eternity would look like hell. Literally. It’s a terrifying thought. 

We don’t hear a lot about hell anymore. Many have decided it doesn’t exist. We have lost sight of Revelation 21:8. Words inspired by God, penned by John, preserved down through time so we could have them as a warning. A warning that sin of every kind from cowardice to lying, adultery to murder, when allowed to flourish in our lives, culminates in death. (James 1:15) Spiritual death in this world. Eternal death in the world to come. We have been warned, yet still we sin. 

It’s not a new development. We are right back to David again. God’s chosen king of Israel. (I Samuel 16) The triumphant warrior child who killed Goliath. (I Samuel 17) The harpist who soothed Saul’s nerves and dodged his spear. (I Samuel 19:10-24) The Psalmist who penned the words of Psalm 18:20, words that sing of being rewarded for his righteousness and clean conscience. We remember the strong king and able leader. We put him on a pedestal. So often we forget that David was no stranger to God’s judgment. He had chosen sin before, incurring God’s wrath and inciting punishment. Painful consequences. Devastating judgment.

Remember the Bathsheba debacle? The affair resulting from lust and greed. The murder resulting from covering up sin. The baby born from an unholy union. The son Bathsheba birthed from her ill-fated affair with the king became deathly ill. For seven long days, David repented, fasted, mourned, and begged God to save his son. Because of David’s sin, the child died. David had firsthand comprehension of punishment for sin. It should have changed his life. It didn’t. Neither his knowledge or experience changed the fact he chose to directly defy God and count his troops. Nothing would change his mind. Joab tried. In desperation, he attempted to appeal to David’s knowledge of the ramifications for violating God’s orders. It was all to no avail. David had clearly forgotten that the wages of sin bring spiritual death. (II Samuel 12:16-18; 24:1-4; Romans 6:23) 

We don’t hear a lot about that anymore either. Sin. We find it difficult to admit it exists outside of violent murder, adultery, embezzlement. We believe we live above it. It takes an act of God to open our hearts and look inside at the things we’ve been ignoring. What we find is disheartening. Bitterness over past wrongs. Anger over present slights. Hidden lust. Pride. Jealousy. Deceit. See, sin doesn’t have to be some outrageous outward act toward another person. Sin is just as deadly to your soul when it is hidden away in the locked closet of your heart. It is just as deserving of punishment. It is just as damning as if it were done openly. Sin brings death. (Proverbs 28:13; Isaiah 59:2)

Except when it doesn’t. Except when our sin, like David’s, brings us to our knees crying out to God in repentance. (II Samuel 24:10) Except when our punishment options look like grace and mercy. Except when God doesn’t punish us according to what we deserve. (Psalm 103:10) When God punishes us less than we deserve. (Ezra 9:13) When God doesn’t just write us off because His love compels Him to be merciful. (Lamentations 3:22) Sin does not, cannot bring death when we seek the Lord in repentance and find abundant pardon through His blood. (Isaiah 55:6-7) Sin brings death, except for God. 

If we are honest with ourselves, we deserve death and hell. Our sin demands it. Our disobedience, our endless following after the world, our lackadaisical thirst for God all insist upon it. Yet as we stand, holding that great list of offenses, deserving of death, Jesus steps in. He takes that daunting litany of dirty deeds from our hands, erases the debts sin has accrued, wipes away the obligations, and forgives our trespasses all in one fluid motion by nailing that list to His cross. (Colossians 2:13-14) Instead of the death we deserve, God sent His only Son to rescue us, change our lives, sit us at His table overflowing with beautiful, sumptuous fruit, and put a banner of love over our heads. We could never earn it, never deserve it, yet there it is. Because God is too merciful to leave us to die in our sin. (John 3:16; Song of Solomon 2:4-5; Titus 3:4-6)

There will be a million times when you will undergo punishment for your ill-advised actions, misjudgments, and outright sins. Eternity doesn’t have to be one of them. For eternity, you have options. Life or death. Heaven or hell. You don’t deserve to choose. None of us do. Yet still God offers. He is gracious and merciful and longsuffering. So choose life. Choose to love God. Choose to listen to His voice. Choose obedience. Choose blessings. In a world where everyone is busy assigning others their just desserts that cannot be escaped. God is offering an eternal option plan. Choose wisely. Choose Jesus and your soul will live. (Deuteronomy 30:19-20; Isaiah 55:3; John 14:6)