In these days, there is a plague which is destroying the church. This plague is consuming flesh, turning believers into dry bones. This plague is caused by an incorrect or wrong understanding about God. When there is a wrong or partial understanding about God there is room for incorrect doctrines, fake miracles and prosperity messages. These tiny seeds of incorrect understanding about God were sown in our lives by the enemy. Partial understanding about God means they know God only in some attributes. Surrounding based understanding about God is also incorrect understanding about God. Prior to being a God of Love, God is a Holy God. Before God is a God of mercy, God is an angry God.
God did not spare his son’s life on the cross in order to atone for human sin. God initially paid the price before beginning to love people. The words of repentance come first in Jesus’ sermons, followed by a message of love. The adulterous woman after being saved from the punishment of sin (throwing of stones as per law) experiences God’s correction and love.
A believer must be brought out of sin by repentance in order to be saved from God’s wrath.
Out of God’s holiness, we experience God’s fear and love
Out of God’s righteousness, we experience God’s peace
Out of God’s faithfulness, we experience God’s mercy
Knowing only the good attributes of God is a feeble understanding about God. When we discover or find God’s righteous attributes, such as His holiness, anger, fear and righteousness, we experience God’s kindness, such as love, mercy, favour, and peace.
Melchizedek – “first, his name means king of righteousness, then also, king of Salem, meaning king of peace;” – Hebrews 7:2
Abraham came to know Melchizedek first as king of righteousness. With this knowledge, he came to know Melchizedek as the King of Peace.
The atmosphere created by the king of righteousness created a place to know the King of peace. God’s righteous attributes produced an exterior covering that allows us to experience God’s good attributes such as peace, love, mercy, and blessings.
We must understand God’s holiness and wrath if we are to understand His love. Out of this understanding we experience God’s love.
God operates under the antonym principle. Jesus is referred to as “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last” in Revelation 22:13. Alpha and Omega are two extreme ends. In order to comprehend God we need to know the Alpha and Omega of God i.e. the extreme natures of God. For examples – Love and Anger are two extremes.
If you want to know God as God of Love, you need to first know the wrath of God
If you want to know God’s wisdom, you need to first fear God
If you want to know God as God of Peace, you need to first know righteousness of God
The antonym principle states that in order to know something about God, we need to know the other extreme of God
God saves but God destroys
God is full of love but God is full of anger
In this balance of both extremes we experience God.
God appeared to Moses in a burning bush but later God wanted to kill Moses (Exodus 4:24).
Moses was aware of God as a promise fulfiller, but he was not aware of God as the God of circumcision. Moses was informed by Zipporah that God is a God of circumcision. Just like Zipporah explained about God of circumcision to Moses, we need the Holy Spirit to explain the other righteous (extreme) attribute of God.
God fulfils his promises in way of God’s commandments. God does not by pass some commandments to fulfil His promises. God’s peace comes at the price of God’s righteousness.
Today develop and recognise the Antonym natures of God for your daily needs. Melchizedek is known by two names at once. The two names here are antonyms. When God fulfils a promise, he makes sure its 100% genuine by the antonym attributes. May God bless you with this understanding about God. God saved Lot in a time of God’s destruction. Lot wouldn’t have left Sodom and risked being wiped out in God’s wrath if he had only known God as the God of love.