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4 The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 I heard the angel of the waters saying, "You are righteous, who are and who were, you Holy One, because you have judged these things. 6 For they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this." 7 I heard the altar saying, "Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments."
I heard the angel of the waters saying
Why is this angel identified this way, as angel of the waters? We should not assume that every angel who shows up in this book is in complete harmony with the principles of the Lamb who is God’s Christ. We are also coming to realize that often angels, particularly one presenting messages, can actually represent people groups on earth. This whole book exposes a long, gradual yet certain transition towards a fuller revelation of the truth about God’s character, His true disposition and how His motives and methods cannot be assumed to reflect how we do things here on earth.
Let’s begin by looking at a couple passages that might affect what we think concerning angels and waters and how they relate to God. The following angel appears to represent Christ Himself.
One said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. I heard, but I didn't understand: then said I, my lord, what shall be the issue of these things? He said, Go your way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. (Daniel 12:6-9)
The angel who I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to the sky, and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there will no longer be delay, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as he declared to his servants, the prophets. (Revelation 10:5-7)
Comparing these two passages provides clues regarding how we might understand some of the peripheral issues connected to this. The man in both passages clearly connect to each other and refers to a specific period of time referenced here in Revelation.
In Daniel is described a force or entity that directs its focus on breaking down the power of the holy people, and both these passages mention things being brought to a finish. Clearly there are differences between these, primarily in that this first passage predicts a significant length of time for this to transpire, while the second says the time has expired and the mystery of God is about to be finished.
Daniel said he couldn’t understand, and the angel agreed, telling him the understanding of these things would not become clear until the time of the end. We are living in the time of the end, so it is time for us to receive understanding beyond what Daniel could have to come into a deeper appreciation of the nature and true meaning of this mystery. We explored this some in our study of chapter 10, and it might be helpful to review those notes and discussions archived online. Let’s consider other passages that bring more light on who might be referred to here as the angel of the waters. After all, we have seen before how the enemy can masquerade as an angel of light, counterfeiting agents of God to make it difficult to discern between the counterfeit and what is authentic.
The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch, and it fell on one third of the rivers, and on the springs of the waters. The name of the star is called "Wormwood." One third of the waters became wormwood. Many people died from the waters, because they were made bitter. (Revelation 8:10-11)
Here we find important clues to apply here. This great star that fell likely refers to the fallen angel previously known as Lucifer, who became the accuser Satan. In chapter 12 we learned that with his deceptive cunning and skill – his tail, he was able to sweep away a third of the stars of heaven who left with him and were cast down to the earth. These symbols are helpful in how they explain what is going on in the larger context of this war largely invisible to us, yet it is more real and intense than any war we wage here on earth using military hardware.
Stars in Scripture often represent angels. In Revelation the term one third is like a brand name indicating involvement in some way by Satan, referring to his success in securing that number of angels to be disloyal to God. He has seduced them to join with him in launching his grand social experiment and has installed an alternative social order competing against God’s original design.
This fallen star fell on rivers and springs of water, the very same symbols we are looking at in this outpouring, so there is a strong link here. The effect of that angel was poisoning of the waters with bitterness so that many died from them. It would be safe to say that those waters likely includes intelligent beings both of humanity and of angels in this regard.
Here is another important passage relating to waters in prophecy. It is in the next chapter that begins with a parenthetical explanation for what is transpiring and more backstory awareness for what is happening here and in following chapters.
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters," (Revelation 17:1)
He said to me, "The waters which you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages." (Revelation 17:15)
Keep in mind that the bowls in chapter 16 being poured out on the earth and its waters, involve people. Waters here represent a way of differentiating groups of people based on their disposition towards heaven. Remember that Satan’s methods divide to confuse, while God’s method separates to reconstruct things back into harmony with the principle of love. Satan’s system involves artificial social constructs that counterfeit the principle of love that defines the holy people of God.
What we find here is another contrast between those who are in alignment with the Lamb (the ones pouring out their censers of prayers and praises for God that unites them in spirit and truth) and the all those who dwell on the earth. The definition of waters upon which the prostitute sits emphasizes the artificial differences relates to their identity. This war largely is over identity, for whoever we allow to define us determines whether we reconcile to God, or we cling to the ways this world defines us.
These prophecies remind us of fundamental principles that govern how we we view ourselves and others around us. This war is linked to how we think and relate to others, how we assess value and who we believe can make us victorious. I sense this angel of the waters could refer to assertions of this world about our identity as defined by earthly systems of justice, commerce and hierarchy that all involve fear and force. This may be about artificial identity versus God-based identity.
Don't judge, so that you won't be judged. For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. (Matthew 7:1-2)
Jesus wants us to see the huge difference in how God defines judgment and how we normally perceive it. Which system of judgment, which standard of measuring, of assessing value, of defining worth and identity we choose to trust, determines how we react to the light of God’s true glory and His kind of power that will be fully revealed in the end. All this directly links to what we choose to believe about the way God relates to us, what we imagine His motives to be, for our character is inevitably shaped by what we believe God to be like. This is the principle of worship, for worship involves our source of identity and sense of worth and consequently who we emulate.
The nature of the message of this angel of the waters is key here. How does he spin the outcome of this outpouring? Is he keen to reinforce assertions that God operates on the same good/evil paradigms that we have, that He uses power to reward good people and punish those who offend or disobey Him? This angel appears to reinforce that what is happening aligns with paradigms that match our expectations. But the more sinister effect can be to reinforce the very lies that harden our hearts against the truth brought to light in the violently slaughtered Lamb.
We need to test the nature of the message from this angel just as with every other messenger, particularly in this book where we are dealing with professional deceivers. We cannot simply assume which side he supports, which agenda he seeks to promote without testing the spirit of the message as well as the content. Yet it is not simply black or white, for or against the Lamb, but rather as we have seen throughout this book, there is a progression of understanding and willingness to accept God’s methods and motives and to discard our traditions and long-held beliefs. Those who seek to follow the Lamb wherever He goes are willing to keep growing, to keep moving forward in the every-increasing light coming to them lest they stall out and darkness again envelopes them. A most important truth each of us needs to keep in mind is that our natural thoughts are not like His thoughts and our ways very often differ from His ways.
Seek you Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says Yahweh. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:6-9)
What is important about this phrase while He may be found? This speaks of movement and time. Jesus said something similar that we need to take to heart seriously and personally.
Jesus therefore said to them, "Yet a little while the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, that darkness doesn't overtake you. He who walks in the darkness doesn't know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become children of light." Jesus said these things, and he departed and hid himself from them. (John 12:35-36)
What does it mean to walk in this context? It denotes forward movement, progression, not staying static in one place but rather a willingness to continually change location as light progresses. This passage makes me think of a large stage play with a powerful spotlight that shines intensely on specific locations on the stage where an important actor might be standing. The rest of the room remains in deep darkness, helping to focus the attention of everyone on the one highlighted on the stage.
A good analogy could involve thinking of a stage light that follows an actor as he moves about on a stage. Normally the light tracks the movements of the player. But in Jesus’ analogy it is the opposite, for the Light is Jesus Christ the Son of God Himself who has come as a brilliant revelation of the Father’s heart who landed on our planet as a human being to invade the gross darkness of misapprehensions about God’s ways and thoughts (compare Genesis 1:1-4). This light is not static however, though it meets us where we are initially, for the light that comes to us never leaves us in our current spiritual condition but moves in directions we cannot predict (John 3:8). This is like a powerful spotlight on a stage bathing a person in brilliant light allowing them to see clearly what is immediately around them. Yet the light continues to move across the stage, so if that person chooses to remain still, soon the light will move beyond his position, leaving that person swallowed by darkness. They may insist that because they understood the truth because they were in the light, and to be right they imagine they have to cling to their truth tenaciously and defend it at all cost.
This is such a vital concept we must not miss and helps us grow in our understanding of why there seems to be so many inconsistencies throughout Scripture. It is because those called by God to be witnesses for Him, messengers of present truth in various ages of history, were called in their current spiritual location. They had to choose whether or not to transition with the light as it led them beyond where they began. We see this reflected in stories throughout Scripture, and Scripture itself is a record of how various witnesses were challenged to move out of their comfort zone if they were to stay in the moving light of truth for their time. Some followed the light and received more light as a result; others chose to camp where the light found them, so as the light moved forward they resisted change because it conflicted with what they wanted to believe. Their sad history is recorded as a warning to each of us to realize we must follow the light if we are to stay in the light, lest we too become absorbed by the darkness of self-deception, all the while imagining we have the truth and have no need to move beyond toward greater truth.
Why is this important for our examination of this angel of the waters? It is highly relevant, for despite the fact that these 7 messengers commissioned by heaven to pour out the glorious contents of their bowls on various aspects of a world deeply immersed in darkness, there is a residual resistance to moving forward with the light, meaning that present truth is not necessarily always present because time keeps moving and stands still for no one. I sense this angel of the waters is a metaphor of this kind of thinking that resists keeping up to the moving spotlight of revealed glory that moves forward with or without us. That spotlight leads us into greater light if we choose to continue moving with it. But if we stop moving we will be overtaken by darkness when we allow pride to displace humble willingness to trust the Lamb over our own opinions and disposition.
Note again the emphasis of what needs to change in the passage from Isaiah.
let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon
The problem of sin is not primarily about breaking the law of God as we have so long imagined. That is merely symptomatic of our condition of internal falsehoods about God causing us to malfunction. The real problem of sin has to do with how we use our will in relation to the light that shines on us right now,. This is different for each person because we are all in different stages of awareness of true reality. It is God’s job to synchronize us with His family, not ours. The core problem that is challenged by the light of truth brought to us in God’s Son and star Witness, is how we choose to respond to the revelation of God’s true character by the light that comes through Jesus. Isaiah here says that we need to return to Yahweh, meaning it is we who are not in proper alinement as His reflectors. This is seen most clearly in how we react when we discover the reality of the scandalous graciousness, kindness, mercy and how forgiving God is all the time. This is where tension is often unmasked, for it is not God who needs convincing to change His disposition about us, but it is our disposition and thinking about Him that must be transformed before we can be reconciled and realigned with His thoughts and His ways. The only correct demonstration and channel of what that looks like is His true Son who is the express reflection of His true glory of love.
God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself made purification for our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:1-3)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome it. (John 1:1-5)
I am suggesting that we allow the light of truth about God as it is in Jesus, to test the spirit of this angel messenger. In fact, the very concept of the word angel has to do with spirits as described in the first chapter of Hebrews. Keep in mind that not all angels are in full harmony with the light of truth.
having become so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they have. For to which of the angels did he say at any time, "You are my Son. Today have I become your father?" and again, "I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son?" Again, when he brings in the firstborn into the world he says, "Let all the angels of God worship him." Of the angels he says, "Who makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire."
Aren't they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:4-7, 14)
Beloved, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit who doesn't confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already.
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn't listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God. He who doesn't love doesn't know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:1-8)
Since this angel of the waters is a spirit, even a flame of fire, and this angel expresses its views of God, then we will test this spirit by comparing it with the Spirit of the Lamb who is the Hero of this book, the only one by which we may know what is true and what is not.
You are righteous
They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty! Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations. (Revelation 15:3)
This is part of the song of the angels pouring out their bowls of praises and prayers that glorifies God and magnifies His name. This angel of the waters begins by harmonizing with this theme. Yet we must remain alert and cautious, for every effective counterfeit must appear true with minimal dissonance. We must test every spirit, measuring it against the only safe Standard, that being the revelation of God through His Son who is represented in this book as the Lamb. Simply affirming that God is righteous does not necessarily mean one making this assertion is in complete alignment with the Lamb. How does this angel define the meaning of the word righteous?
Consider how this word has been perceived in the past.
What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it? Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:24-25)
The presumption on the part of Abraham was that God would be the active agent in killing the people of Sodom. This presumption is still prominent in the minds of most people familiar with this story. Yet the testing question is, does this align with the revelation of God’s character by the Lamb? That is the criteria we rely on in our examination of everything in this entire book.
Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves! They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.'"
Yahweh said to Moses, "I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation."
Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, "Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, 'He brought them forth for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?' Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.'"
Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people. (Exodus 32:7-14)
This intense dialog between God and Moses has compelling challenges that requires a level of mature thinking. A human calling God out to repent! Does this mean Moses might be more righteous than God? There are lots of interesting implications here, but worth processing for us to move toward a broader appreciation of how God’s light relates to each one of us at our level of comprehension.
As he was going out into the way, one ran to him, knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except one – God. (Mark 10:17-18)
This is a reminder of our creation design and intent, to be reflectors of God’s likeness – we are created in the image of the Godhead, to freely receive of His abundance and glory in order that our lives and our spirit may reflect that same goodness and that His light may be dispersed to everyone. This is why Jesus came to live among us as a human and not something else, because humans are perfectly designed to best reflect the goodness and glory of God’s passionate love to others. As a human Jesus was able to fully reflect the truth of God’s heart, God’s disposition, God’s motives and intents and His character of pure love. This is the Light of truth that exposes all the lies of darkness that distort our thinking and make us afraid of God and resistant to being reconciled. This is the light that brings God’s kind of judgment to this world in how we choose to relate to this light.
Jesus therefore answered them, "Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise. (John 5:19)
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. (John 6:38)
"I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. However he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world." They didn't understand that he spoke to them about the Father. Jesus therefore said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM he, and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these things. He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn't left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him." (John 8:26-29)
He who rejects me, and doesn't receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke, the same will judge him in the last day. For I spoke not from myself, but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. (John 12:48-49)
Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, 'Show us the Father?' Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works' sake. (John 14:8-11)
This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)
It is worth reminding us again that we are to rely solely on God’s only Son Jesus Christ to define the truth of the Father’s heart, not leaning on our own understanding or emotional distortions. The One who in the very first phrase of this book is defined as the One who is being revealed, the Hero of this book as God’s Christ – He is the light by which we are to check the credentials of this mysterious angel connected with the waters in some way.
What does it mean to be righteous. There is version of righteousness based on law-keeping versus righteousness of Christ. Yet do we grasp the practical application of this and how it affects our lives?
For being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn't subject themselves to the righteousness of God. (Romans 10:3)
In short, righteousness is an identity issue, not so much a behavioral issue. Yet this can be difficult to separate in our thinking. The gospel, the good news from the Lamb, is that our true identity is the righteousness of God and is entirely anchored in what God says is true about us and nothing else. This is emphasized repeatedly in the New Testament, yet we remain confused, partly because we do not apply the same principle to how we define God’s righteousness. We may agree that the righteousness involved in our our salvation does not come from our attempts to keep the law. Yet of itself this has not been enough to alleviate our fears and overcome doubts and confusion that continues to haunt us. So how can we subject ourselves to the righteousness of God? It helps to appreciate what defines God’s righteousness, for that affects how we perceive what it means for us to be made righteous.
The problem is we imagine righteousness as a kind of currency God requires in order to pay off our debt of sin before God will allow us to enter heaven or for us to be accepted by Him. This perspective leads us to seek other methods by which to offset our assumed debt with God, not realizing we are misunderstand the nature of the problem itself. When we view God as relating to us with a commercial mindset of debts and credits, we postulate that in some mysterious way, Christ’s righteousness (good deeds) can somehow displace our sinfulness (bad deeds) with His merits to forgive the debts caused by our shortage of righteousness. This ‘balances’ heaven’s accounts with Christ’s merits to eliminate the debts created by our sins through our faith in Christ (or this formula).
From this angle, upon what is our faith actually being focused? We say we have faith in the righteousness of Christ, but for what purpose? It may be that our faith is actually fixated on some nebulous magical formula promising to relieve us of fear of God’s wrath and threatened punishments against us. Yet this misguided faith becomes obsessed with sin elimination and account reconciliation and is not rooted in a genuine, heartfelt response in appreciation for the love of our heavenly Father brought to us by Jesus. This is a false gospel, a false hope relied on, expounded endlessly and defended ardently all over the world. Yet it is infected with subtle distortions and reinforces the spirit of fear that does not originate with God but comes from the father of lies. This is The Lie we embraced in exchange for The Truth as it is in Jesus.
A fatal flaw in this line of reasoning in traditional theology is that it is saturated with economic logic. Heaven is not defined by economic principles but is about family relationships with God and others around us. So many words used in religion such as merit, debt, payments, blame and even expectations are economic oriented terms that are misleading and affect our perceptions of how God relates to us. Until our thinking about how God feels toward us is changed, we are susceptible to manipulation by fear. This is why love is central for clarifying the nature of this war between truth and lies, light and darkness. We are not in an economic war as Satan leads us to imagine. Our real problem is our disposition about God’s trustworthiness and His desire for us to live close to Him.
Along this same line, I want to remind us that a correct understanding of what reconciliation is all about is entirely a problem with us and has nothing to do with changing God’s disposition towards us. In no way does God ever need to change His thinking towards us. It is not God who needs to repent but is always us. This repentance involves coming to appreciate and respond positively to that graciousness and kindness of our loving Parents in heaven. The ministry of reconciliation involves transforming us from living in fear, to basking in His perfect, endless love for us personally. This alone will prepare us to thrive in the fire of His passionate love, free of all resistance that can cause dissonance and results in torment. This requires being liberated from all the lies from the enemy that induces resistance in our spirit when we encounter the presence and power of pure love.
An important step toward experiencing freedom from fear is to embrace the truth that our righteousness in no way is based on anything we do or even what we believe. Our identity and worth is based on what God says about us, that Jesus replaced our false identity with His identity as a perfect human reflector of God’s righteousness. Yet beyond this we must move to an even clearer understanding, for God’s righteousness also is not based on keeping the law but is rooted purely in what He says about Himself and in how His Son has reflected Him.
To clarify, righteousness is not a merit commodity that can be traded or exchanged in order to pay off supposed debts with credits or merits. This logic was invented by Satan to distort everything we feel or believe about God’s disposition towards us. In short, God is not a debt-collector. This truth must sink in to the deepest level of our thinking.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (1 Corinthians 13:4-5 NIV)
The true merit of righteousness is in regards to its credibility and authenticity, not as a mystical spiritual economic commodity. Righteousness is a description of who God is, not something He demands as payment in exchange for giving us access to a better place to live. Righteousness is the glory of God who is love, who is light with no darkness at all in Him. To be righteous simply means to think and live and act and relate to others like God who alone is righteous – reflecting His heart.
Created beings can never be righteous the way God is because only God is self-existent, the Source of life, love, power and all goodness. The only way a created being can be righteous is by trusting and reflecting how good God is, how He cares for them completely and by resting in His love. Living in alignment with the principle of receiving without resistance and giving freely, we are righteous because we reflect our Source who is God. This is what it means to live out our design as created beings in the image of God, not striving to keep some external set of rules but simply living as joyful reflectors of the passionate love poured out on us continually. This is genuine righteousness.
So is there a problem with this message from this angel of the waters? Note how he asserts that God is righteous because of what He does. This contradicts the true gospel, which is why we pay close attention to not fall back into this trap. God is not righteous because He keeps His law, anymore than anyone can actually become righteous by keeping that law. Paul throughout all his writings emphasizes this, yet so many struggle to embrace this truth brought to light by Jesus.
For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
What is this righteousness of God that we become in Christ? It is not a righteousness defined by our good compliance accomplished with help from God. No, true righteousness is about our true identity, to reorient the way we think about ourselves. This happens through faith, by believing it is true. The fruit of righteousness is produced by the power of the indwelling Spirit as we choose to believe what God says about us and about Himself over anyone else’s assertions, even our own feelings. This is how we receive a love of the truth that transforms us back into being once again His image-bearers.
This faith brings us into victory against lies that have tormented and confused us. We are saved from the power of fear and death through our choosing to believe and rest in God’s love for us, allowing His love to flow through us regardless of our feelings. Our focus is to live in right relation to God’s love for us, not fearful that our condition affects His disposition. We believe what He says through Christ more than what anyone else says. We live rejoicing as a family of royalty, not as slaves in bondage to fear. We believe God is righteous, not because He does all the right things or satisfies our demands for justice, but rather He does all the right things because He is inherently good and right.
As a human, Jesus took onto Himself our false identities, allowing the dreadful consequences of our sins to rip the life out of His mortal body. Yet what this did was to give Him full authority to give back to us our original true identity as sons and daughters of the Almighty God, the Owner and Source of everything. This is what is meant by this verse when it says He was made to be sin on our behalf. That had nothing to do with Jesus accepting our punishment from God, but rather allowing the natural consequences of our sins to be exhausted on Him. As a result we are all now in Christ, loved children of God, not because we do anything (or even because Jesus was good enough to accrue extra merit by works of the Law to pay off our deficit), but because God embraces us as His children and seeks permission to live inside us so we may be living expressions of His righteousness, goodness, passion and love.
for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works [anyone’s works], that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
This angel says God is righteous. But from what we are seeing, it is a different sort of righteousness than how Paul describes it.
Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God. Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified by the law and the prophets; (Romans 3:19-21)
But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed. (Galatians 3:23)
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (Galatians 5:18)
What is meant by this phrase under the law? Living under the law means is believing righteousness is defined by keeping the Law of God, that one who keeps the law can become righteous by keeping it perfectly. This is Satan’s most effective deception and most sinister twist of the truth. The Law of God is not a source of righteousness but merely outlines briefly a description of what a righteous person might look like. Attempting to be righteous by obeying the law is superficial and debilitating. It is like trying to become a different gender by attempting to act or feel or look like them. It is like imagining we can become a different species by imitating how they live. This is all foolishness, and so is attempting to be righteous apart from trust in God’s love for us.
What does Paul declare about God’s righteousness? It is not in any way based on what God does as defined by the Law, but rather on who He is. God acts righteously, not in order to be righteous but because that is who He is and because He always acts like Himself. "I AM WHO I AM," and he said, "You shall tell the children of Israel this: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:14)This is crucial for us to grasp as it affects directly how we perceive our relationship to God and how we reflect His image. If we fail to see that God’s righteousness is not based on what He does, but solely on who He is apart from the law, we will have an identity dysphoria ourselves. We are the righteousness of God because we are created in His image and He says righteousness is our identity. It is not what we do but is our identity apart from what we do. The same thing applies equally to God.
Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for, "The righteous will live by faith." The law is not of faith, but, "The man who does them will live by them." (Galatians 3:11-12)
If we cannot be justified by the law, why would we think God must be justified by keeping the law?
To be righteous simply means to act like our true selves as defined by the human Jesus Christ. He shows us what it looks like to reflect God’s righteousness as a human imager/reflector. That’s what it means to live as a normal human, and Jesus restores to us this original identity so we may again reflect the perfect love of our heavenly Father by believing and receiving it freely.
This often arouses fear that somehow we might be undermining the authority of the Law. What it really does is to undermine the power of fear that many believe is needed to keep people in the straight and narrow. We mistakenly imagine that without fear of punishment by God, there won’t be enough incentive to inhibit us from indulging in sin over and over. This is backwards logic however, and actually results in the very dysfunction it claims to guard against. It also denies that love has more power than fear, something the enemy wants us to believe.
For God didn't give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7)
For being ignorant of God's righteousness (apart from the law), and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn't subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness of the law, "The one who does them will live by them."
But the righteousness which is of faith says this, "Don't say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down); or, 'Who will descend into the abyss?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)" But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart;" that is, the word of faith, which we preach: that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord (parallels “ascend into heaven.” Lord means He is the only trustworthy definer of truth about God and ourselves), and believe in your heart (parallels descend into the abyss) that God raised him from the dead (parallels “to bring Christ up”), you will be saved (healed, made complete). For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness (brought into right relationship with God); and with the mouth confession (agreement with what God says) is made unto salvation (our condition being salvaged from the dysfunction of sin). For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed." (Romans 10:3-11)
Is this angel of the waters clinging to the old song based on what he says about God’s righteousness? In parallel passages God is declared to be righteous because He judges, because He executes vengeance, because of His works. This is a deficit of the old song, that works are the basis of identity rather than being its fruit. In the first perspective, God is good because He does good, or because He punishes those who are bad. Yet when it feels like He is not good, when things go horribly wrong in our lives as what happened to Job, we then struggle to believe there is no darkness in Him at all.
Here is the origin of this way of viewing God. It began in the alternative reality invented by Satan that permeates so much of our thinking and fuels our fears.
The serpent said to the woman, "You won't surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:4-5)
This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)
When we compare passages in Hebrews and Revelation 15, these nuances have enormous consequences in our lives when it comes to the fruit in our spirit and lives. The law of Moses largely defines identity as being based on actions, while the Song of the Lamb emphasizes the eternal, unchanging reality of God’s goodness regardless of contradictory evidence or feelings. The pure atmosphere of heaven is reflective of the New Song, ever celebrating God’s kindness, graciousness, unconditional love and forgiveness as defining who He is, rather than praising His performance as being the basis of His righteousness. Remember, the Law can describe righteousness but can never produce it.
Thoughts to consider
Do I believe God is good because of what He does? If so, I am under the law.
Do I celebrate God’s goodness despite anything that happens to or around me? Then I am choosing to live by every word that comes out of the mouth of God over any or all feelings to the contrary.
The old paradigm defines identity as based on performance.
The true paradigm defines identity as anchored alone in the word of God, leaving performance to be assessed and interpreted as a natural outgrowth of fruit, not the root cause.
This is why who we are connected to and who we worship makes all the difference in the fruit seen in our lives.
Is my fruit forced, artificial, contrived or requiring great effort on my part?
Is my fruit a spontaneous outflow of inner communion with the heart of God who energizes and challenges me to live closer to Him more than to anyone else?
