"Retributive Justice" -2

"Let his days be few; and let another take his office." (Psalms 109:8)

 Please forgive me if I get off track now and again, but there are good days and bad; besides, this is not so much me trying to teach, it is me sharing what God reveals in my heart, day after day, each and every morning. Now, let me share this from another perspective; one that might shine a little light on why this is speaking of new beginnings; besides the fact that Judas was replaced by Matthias. In God's economy of give and take, there is not a set of scales, but there is retributive justice. It takes rehabilitation off the table and places punishment as the goal, that all crimes are dealt with a penalty of punishment. Case in point, is that Jesus was without sin, yet He took our sins upon Himself and He was punished, horrifically punished for our sins. I have marked in my Bible after this verse, "Acts Chapter 2," which is the chapter in Acts where there are three things which took place that day which were orchestrated by the Holy Spirit; the first was cloven tongues that caused everyone to speak in different dialects "the wonderful works of God," the second was Peter preaching under the power of the Holy Spirit, and the third was that 3,000 repented and were baptized, causing a great revival; all of which was the work of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Bryan mentioned something yesterday in his message about what happens when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, that we don't just get part of the Spirit, we get all of Him, all at once. This is in and of itself another form of retributive justice, that our old man has been crucified with Christ, and has been replaced with a new Spirit filled man; there is no rehabilitation offered to the old man, he is to be reckoned dead with Christ. This is why Paul can declare with all certainty, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:1) Was there a penalty paid for our sin? You bet there was, it was paid for by Jesus Christ upon that cross; rehabilitation is out of the question and unnecessary because the old man is dead and has been crucified with Christ. The new man has been raised up out of the grave with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, all the Spirit we will need, all at once. If anything, we just need to experience all that the Holy Spirit will do in and through us; each and everything is available based upon our own desire and interest in His gifts and works...

"'In the last days,' God says, 'I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants -men and women alike -and they will prophesy. And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below -blood and fire an clouds of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the LORD arrives. But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.'"
(Acts 2:17-21) NLT