Grace for ASA  (Bulletin Article November 15, 2015)

 

 

1 The Spirit of the Lord came on Azariah son of Oded. 2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you… 7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” 8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’stemple. 9 Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw how the Lord his God was with him.   (2 Chronicles 15:1-9)

 

    Long ago, in the early history of Christianity (around AD 144), a man named Marcion began to teach a heresy that came to bear his name: Marcionism—the belief that the Hebrew God, the God of the Old Testament, was vengeful and angry while the God of the New Testament, the God of Jesus and Paul, was gracious and full of love. There are still people today who, in one form or another, believe these same ideas.

    The passage above, though, from the life of Asa king of Judah, is just one example of many that deny this dichotomy. Notice, the prophet of the Lord came to Asa and reassured him before he had removed the idols and repaired the altar in the Lord’s temple; before he had deposed his grandmother, Maakah from her position as “queen-mother,” because of her idolatrous associations.

    The life of King Asa stands as an Old Covenant example of grace. God acts first in his kindness and the people react in obedience, not vice-versa. Today God has acted in his Son Jesus to save us from the consequences of sin—now it’s our move.