Where Vengeance is SWEET!
Romans 12:18-19 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “ Vengeance is Mine , I will repay ,” says the Lord.
If possible… so far as it depends on you…
Romans 12:20-21 “ But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Bottom line…
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
To be overcome by evil is not about suffering retaliation or even death.
To be overcome by evil is to become like evil. To change our character from LOVE to HATE.
Remember… when God created man, He set us apart from all other creatures by creating us in His image and giving us the greatest gift of love – CHOICE, an act of our own will, to decide, judge, and then act to bring our choice to fruition. No other creature, including angels, has the authority and power.
Satan, who was once one of God’s powerful angels, without the authority to chose, judge, or act without God’s permission, committed the act of hating God and His creation. For Satan, it was the act of becoming evil – the total and complete opposite of good. Without the free will to chose, this creature and any like him, will remain the way they are, with no hope for redemption.
Man, mankind, from minute one of receiving the breath of God, became God’s favored creature (the one next in line to the God Head)… and He does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) Unlike Satan (who received the promise of defeat), God immediately instituted a plan to SAVE His greatest possession. Though He would not reverse the gift of free will, He promised to provide a way of escape from the wages of the sin (evil’s punishment) we introduced into all of creation.
God decides… For Satan and his minions, there is NO HOPE! But for God and those He calls His people… For we know Him who said, “ Vengeance is Mine, I will repay .” And again, “ The Lord will judge His people .” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:30-31)
It is terrifying! Unless you know Him!
Romans 11:33-36 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
His vengeance is indeed SWEET! He will stop at nothing to give us our place and position He has always planned for us.
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Freely CHOOSE! If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)
One of Satan’s weapons he frequently uses to show God his hatred, is to incite us to anger and wrath – his nature. He would “love” to steal us from God, kill us so God will never have us, and destroy God’s testimony in our life. He HATES God! We are only a morsel (a snack) to satisfy his hunger for victory over God – his victory over GOOD!
God’s SWEET revenge? “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. (Genesis 50:19-20)
And it gets even SWEETER! For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:18-21)
Were we to take it upon ourselves to administer our form of vengeance, it will quickly be filled with anger, and wrath, and hatred; ITS IN OUR DNA!
God’s desire is to set us and creation free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
God is GOOD ALL THE TIME… there is no shadow of anything but LOVING KINDNESS!
And all the time GOD IS GOOD… everything HE does is FOR us NEVER AGAINST us!
Romans 8:37-39 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Do you want revenge? Do you wish for the the ultimate payback to every enemy that so much as harmed a hair on your head?
Genesis 12:3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Yes, this is God’s promise to Abraham and to his descendants, of which WE ARE ALSO! Because of Jesus, we, the Jews and Gentiles, are one. He is our Messiah! We have His blood coursing through our veins!)
Let go of your desires and dreams… be at peace with all men… if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink…
Let God give us all SWEET VENGEANCE… Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.