Do you ever wonder if there is a message in Scripture for how we are supposed to fight sin having found ourselves right in the midst of it? What do we do when we have sinned, we are reaping the consequences, and we want to continue to fight the fight of faith instead of lying down in our depression and wallowing in our guilt? I believe the book of Micah speaks to that subject very clearly. One could determine that the only message of the book of Micah is judgment. It begins in chapter one proclaiming that judgment is coming to Israel and ends in chapter seven proclaiming that judgment has come. But in this text we can be reminded of the deep promises of God, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and therefore the strength that is available to us in fighting against sin.
And strangely enough, I believe in order to find ourselves strong in the battle against sin, we first need to understand that God’s nature demands that he judge sin.
In this proclamation of judgment that is to come upon Israel, no person should be clueless about why the judgment is coming. After speaking of the judgment, which would come, God says in 1:5, “All this is for the rebellion of Jacob and for the sins of Israel.” Again, in 3:8 God says, “On the other hand I am filled with power—with the Spirit of the LORD—and with justice and courage to make known to Jacob his rebellious act, even to Israel his sin.” And finally, Jerusalem admits her sin saying in 6:7, “Shall I present my first-born for my rebellious acts?”
There is no doubt in the book that the reason for judgment is the sin of the people. Those who have planned evil against others now find God planning evil against them (2:1-3). They have abused and ignored the cries of the hurting, and now God will ignore their cries as they are suffering (3:1-5). God judges sin.
Why?
God judges sin because it is in his very nature to judge sin. By nature he must pour out wrath on sin (5:15). He cannot simply justify wicked men without pouring out wrath for their sin (6:11). He cannot look upon those tainted with sin (3:4). He must judge sin. It is not something that he can just overlook.
He hates it; it is against his very being as he is light and in him there is no darkness at all. For all sin is a despising of God. And to despise something is to deny it its inherent value. That is the epitome of what sin is. We choose to delight ourselves in filth and deny delighting ourselves in the great and infinite God. Every sin is a despising of God.
Do you remember David’s sin toward Bathsheeba? He took her, slept with her, impregnated her, and had her husband killed. Therefore, when God is revealing his sin, you would expect God to say to David, “Look what you’ve done to Bathsheeba? David, think about Uriah.” But he doesn’t say this. Instead, God says to David in 2 Samuel 12:10, “You have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uraih the Hittite to be your wife.”
In sinning, we despise an infinite God. And because God’s nature and passion is to uphold his glory, he will judge sin. That’s what we see in the flood. And beyond that, that is what we speak of in speaking of hell. Some will say that hell is an injustice for mere sin, but to say that is to ignore the value of the infinite God that you have despised in your sin and in your scorning of Jesus Christ.
It is crucial that we understand this, for this is where the gospel begins. Without understanding the problem that man has in bearing the wrath of God for sin, he will not understand what he needs to be saved from. It is the coming wrath of God in hell. And unless he understands that God must judge his sin to remain just, he will not understand the need for the cross. Why would God not simply overlook his sin, ignore it, and declare him just? The answer is that God is a just, righteous, and holy God.
And in understanding man’s terrible state under the wrath of a holy God, he should then ask the question, “How can God then not judge my sin by pouring out his infinite wrath on me in hell and still remain just? For he cannot simply overlook my sin.” And the only possible solution to that question of how can God justify us and yet still remain just is by pouring out his wrath for our sin on Jesus Christ, the righteous one, so that “He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).
So do you see how crucial it is to understand that God’s nature demands that he judge sin, otherwise the cross makes no sense. And unless you realize that God has accomplished salvation through his Son, you have no hope in battling sin.
So, then the question still remains. Maybe you are thinking, “I am born again. I have been saved. But how do I fight through sin when I find myself in the midst of it?”
The answer is that we look to Christ, realize that he is pleading our case for us, and walk knowing that the sacrifice of his life has been accepted as an acceptable sacrifice on your behalf.
I see this example in Micah 7:8-9, and I am utterly astonished. I believe when we realize the grace we have been shown in light of this passage, it will crumble us to the ground this morning.
Israel has sin, judgment is shown by God, her enemies mock her, and yet listen to the response: “Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see his righteousness” (7:8-9).
I am blown away by the fight of the prophet, speaking on behalf of this nation. And I cannot believe that this is an Old Testament passage.
For do you see what he is doing? He is saying, “Yes, I have sinned. And, yes, God judges sin. And, yes, I will bear his indignation. However, I will only bear it until he comes to plead my case.” He finds the strength in the definite assurance that God will be true to his covenant promise and will come to plead his case. He trusts that God, himself, will come and deal with the indignation of his sin.
What a clear understanding and strong faith this is. But how would God do this? Isn’t he this God of judgment? Well, yes, but he is also full of grace and truth. In verse 20, the prophet says, “You will give truth to Jacob and unchanging love to Abraham.” He understands that because God is just, he must judge sin. Therefore, his only hope is that God will judge his sin by dealing with it himself and pleading his case. And yet he is so confident in that hope that he fights with confidence now in the face of his enemies.
But how was God going to do this? How was he going to manifest this hope and show that he is this God of truth and unchanging love?
I believe the answer is remarkable. First of all, if you pay close attention, you will see that these two words—truth and unchanging love—sound familiar. For we have heard these two words quite recently, where the word for “unchanging love” can mean love, mercy, kindness, etc. It carries an idea of grace. And the word for truth means faithfulness or truth. And where does this phrase send the Old Testament reader?
Immediately he would think of Exodus. Do you remember how Moses was crying out to God because God had removed his presence from the midst of the camp? And, finally, after God says that his presence will be in their midst, Moses asks to see God’s glory.
As God passed by, he proclaimed to Moses who he is in Exodus 34:6, saying, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth.”
There they are. God had told Moses that he was a God of lovingkindness and truth. Or to translate it with the greater idea of “lovingkindness,” God speaks of himself as this God of grace and truth.
Therefore, when Micah finds himself in sin, he says that he will suffer the indignation of the Lord until this God of grace and truth that Moses had cried out to (in order that he might see he glory) would come and deal with his sin, pleading his case.
Did this God of grace and truth come?
Turn now to John 1:14. John writes, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
He did come. It is Jesus Christ. He is the narration of God, the God full of grace and truth of which Moses and Micah speak.
Therefore, Micah was battling sin, after having sinned, with grace. “What grace?” you might ask. He is fighting with the grace mentioned in John 1:16-17: “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ”.
The grace that the prophet was fighting with was the first grace shown. It was the grace of the law as it prophetically pointed to Jesus Christ as the way in which dirty, sin-tainted men could come before the Holy God. That was grace.
But we’ve been shown a greater grace because we have realized the fulfillment of this grace as Christ came to fulfill the law.
We have seen the “realization,” or the appearing of the grace with which the prophet battled sin, while in the midst of sin. He battled by looking to the one who would come and plead his case. We have the privilege of battling sin by looking to the one who has come and has blend, died, resurrected, and ascended to the right hand of the Father in order that he might plead our case. There is no reason for one who has been covered by the blood of Jesus Christ to wallow in his sin and shame.
Fight it. Do not let the enemy rejoice over you, but fight by looking to the one who is pleading your case. It is the same one whose judgment you have fled. The judge is your savior and sacrifice for sin.
Therefore, I urge you this morning to set your eyes on Christ, recognize the power of his blood, and walk as one who has been justified by that blood. Fight sin by looking to the God of grace and truth—Jesus Christ. Amen.