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Last week we compared David, whose heart was disposed to God, being tempted by Satan to do things contrary to his heart, to Cyrus, whose heart had no interest in God,

who was drawn by God to do great things.

God accomplished His works against the inclinations of their hearts without violating their free will.

The point was that neither had the works they did attributed to them because their hearts were not in what

they did. They simply filled God’s ultimate purposes.

Let’s finish David’s story since we didn’t get to it last week.

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“Go and speak to David, ‘Thus the Lord says, “I am offering you three things; choose for

yourself one of them, which I will do to you.” ’ So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, ‘Shall seven years of famine come to you

in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your

land? Now consider and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me.’ Then David said to Gad, ‘I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.’”

2Sam 24:12–14

This is important. What do you see in the heart of David even in the face of significant threat?

David knows that no matter what the situation is, it is always best to stand before God and trust in His wisdom

and love, even when you are guilty.

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“So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and seventy thousand men of the people

from Dan to Beersheba died.” 2Sam 24:15David did something outside of his nature and his love for

the Lord because the Lord allowed the enemy to hit David above his ability to resist (1Cor 10:13) and because it served His purposes, God allowed Satan to tempt David above his

ability to resist, drawing David into sin.

But no punishment falls to David for his sin. Did you notice the punishment falls to the nation, not to David?

God allowed David’s sin to fill the national measure of sin so that He could remove destructive Israelites from the

nation and 70,000 dangerously wicked men were purged.

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“Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking down the people,

and said, “Behold, it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done wrong; but these

sheep, what have they done? Please let Your hand be against me and against my father’s

house.”2Sam 24:17

Even David knows the punishment is on Israel, not him. What do you see in the heart of David in this verse?

David’s love for the Israelites, the people for whom God put a shepherd’s heart in David, cannot stand to see the Israelites

suffering. He thinks that the death of the 70 thousand is because of his sin and he wants the punishment to come to

him. What he does not know is that the Lord saw destructive sinful tendencies in Israel that needed to be removed, which is

what God did for the safety of the nation.

The true heart for God is revealed even in his cry to be executed in the place of the Israelites. The heart is the

key.

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So Cyrus is drawn by God to bless the Israelites by setting them free to rebuild the temple and the walls of Israel after the Babylonian captivity, and to fund the project, but God

does not attribute righteousness to him.

David is drawn by Satan to number the people and sin against God, but God does not attribute sin to David. God

permitted it to accomplish a greater good in Israel.

This is why I teach that the condition of the heart that is disposed to God, that responds obediently to God, is the

only situation whereby acts of righteousness and self-less actions can be accomplished. All other things that are not

initiated by God and the work of His hands are empty fleshly actions. Only actions that come from a responsive heart at the initiation of God are considered holy by God.

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So an unbeliever has no ability for righteous activity because he is not in union with God. All that he does is

self-serving and unacceptable to God. Because God is in believers and works through them He can love what He

does in them, but the works of an unbeliever cannot possibly be separated from what they are, which apart

from God is purely selfish and unholy.

We ARE righteous, the very righteousness of Christ, but they are evil, sinful and totally selfish in their essence. God alone is what delivers Christians from sin and their

fallen flesh, but because unbelievers are not in union with Him He cannot separate what they do from what they are.

He hates what they do and how they think which is why He said He hated Esau.

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So an unbeliever has no ability for righteous activity because he is not in union with God. All that he does is

self-serving and unacceptable to God. Because God is in believers and works through them He can love what He

does in them, but the works of an unbeliever cannot possibly be separated from what they are, which apart

from God is purely selfish and unholy.

We ARE righteous, the very righteousness of Christ, but they are evil, sinful and totally selfish in their essence. God alone is what delivers Christians from sin and their

fallen flesh, but because unbelievers are not in union with Him He cannot separate them from what they are. He hates what they do and how they think which is why He said He

hated Esau.

Another reason for this uncompromising standard of measure of acceptable actions is the Person of Christ. If

God sacrificed His Son to produce actual righteousness in us, is it not obvious why the best attempts of sinful flesh to replicate righteous or to imitate God would be totally

unacceptable and revolting to God?

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We use the words “what you are in Christ” so often I think it probably has lost its meaning. So what are we, who are

“in Christ”?

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

2 Co 5:21

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There is a lot of contradictory interpretations on what this verse actually says, but it all hinges on the length to which

Jesus became sin for us, and how far we become the righteousness of God in Christ.

What do you think Paul is saying when he says that Jesus was made “to be sin” so that we might “become the

righteousness of God in Christ”?

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Do you really believe that you ARE the righteousness of of God in Christ or was that just some nice “feel good”

platitude that Paul wrote?

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"He was made sin, so that we might be made righteous; He was condemned, that we might be

justified. The very idea of substitution is that what is done by one in the place of another avails as though

that other had done it himself. The victim was the substitute for the offerer, because his death took the place of the other’s death. If both died, there was no substitution. So if Christ’s being made sin does not

secure our being made righteousness, he was not our substitute.” Hodge, C.

What is Hodge saying?He is saying that if Jesus became our substitute, then it is the same as Jesus actually committing our sins and was

justly and fully punished for them.

To the same degree, in becoming the righteousness of God in Christ, it is that you NEVER sinned! Do you grasp

what an amazing blessing that truly is?

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"He was made sin, so that we might be made righteous; He was condemned, that we might be

justified. The very idea of substitution is that what is done by one in the place of another avails as though

that other had done it himself. The victim was the substitute for the offerer, because his death took the place of the other’s death. If both died, there was no substitution. So if Christ’s being made sin does not

secure our being made righteousness, he was not our substitute.” Hodge, C.

What is Hodge saying?It is an argument of logic. “Jesus became 100% your sin and died your death. You became 100% Jesus’

righteousness and live His life.

To the degree that Jesus became your sin, to that same degree you became God’s righteousness!

As in mathematics you have to accept both sides of the equation as equal. If you do not believe that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, then you cannot believe that Jesus became your sin and bore your punishment.

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"He was made sin, so that we might be made righteous; He was condemned, that we might be

justified. The very idea of substitution is that what is done by one in the place of another avails as though

that other had done it himself. The victim was the substitute for the offerer, because his death took the place of the other’s death. If both died, there was no substitution. So if Christ’s being made sin does not

secure our being made righteousness, he was not our substitute.” Hodge, C.

What is Hodge saying?None of us would argue that Jesus did not die for us, but we do argue against our being righteous, and we argue

that others who irritate us are not righteous.

Do you understand how often and how powerfully you countermand intellectually as well as verbally, that you are

RIGHTEOUS?

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Can you give any examples of how we do this?

How can a person think that if they are the righteousness of God in Christ?

“I don’t like myself.”

The only way that a person can come to that conclusion is if he or she does not see the self as righteous.

“I don’t feel like I have any value, and I don’t like the fact that I am not really good at anything.”

How about that statement? Where does it find its roots?

It is clear that is cannot have anything to do with what that person is in Christ! This is the nonsense we develop when

we do not see who or what we are in Christ.

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Can you give any examples of how we do this?

How can a person think that if they are the righteousness of God in Christ?

“I don’t like myself.”

The only way that a person can come to that conclusion is if he or she does not see the self as righteous.

“I don’t feel like I have any value, and I don’t like the fact that I am not really good at anything.”

How about that statement? Where does it find its roots?

It is clear that is cannot have anything to do with what that person is in Christ! This is the nonsense we develop when

we do not see who or what we are in Christ.

If you see yourself as “in Christ” or “Christ in you” the only thing that you will see is Jesus. You won’t see yourself at all and there will be nothing to not like.

When you see yourself “in Christ” you will submit yourself to Him to perform in you His pleasure and His plan. What

could ever be “not to like” in that?

And what’s more, if you saw yourself in Christ, why would you ever have any interest in anything else, much less

temptation? So you see, we do NOT see the reality of what and who we are in Christ.

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So when we see ourselves as we relate to Jesus, and “IN CHRIST”, the only thing that we are is what Jesus is in us, since He became our sin and we

became His righteousness!

The memories and the fears will fade in time, being swallowed in our reality in Christ, but until that time we must see ourselves as God does until we can see the

reality of Jesus in us.

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Now do you see why God loved Jacob and hated Esau?

Jacob had a selfish heart just like Esau. But when God put sufficient pressure on Jacob, his arrogant and self-serving

heart broke and submitted itself to God. But when God put pressure on the likes of Pharaoh, Esau and Cain, they doubled down on their rebellion and became even harder.

God, who exists in and outside of time, knew the hearts of Jacob and Esau before they were born and made the statement because He would have a relationship with

Jacob, through which He could express Himself in Jacob and thus love him. But Esau was a godless and profane person (Heb 12:16) who God knew would never respond.

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Now let’s talk a little bit about how to make what is wrong with our lives right. How do we get on the

right track once we see that we are wrong?

God softened the heart of Jacob the night that they wrestled. You can clearly see the “point in time” shift that

began the migration into righteous thinking.

“Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.’ But he said, ‘I will not let you go

unless you bless me.’ So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’” Ge 32:26–27

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“He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and

with men and have prevailed.’ Then Jacob asked him and said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, ‘I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.’” Ge

32:28–30Why did Jacob strive with men?

He was trying to draw his living out of other people instead of out of God, who is the only Source of life in the

universe. God gives to all men what they need to survive, and selfish people who are disconnected from God try to

suck their life out of the little bit that God gives to all. That is why Jacob had so many enemies.

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“He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and

with men and have prevailed.’ Then Jacob asked him and said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, ‘I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.’” Ge

32:28–30Why did God say that Jacob prevailed?

It was because after exhausting himself trying to suck his life out of everyone around him, he finally turned his sight

to God to receive life from God. In other words, at long last, he finally stumbled on to what could actually give him

what he was searching for.

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“He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and

with men and have prevailed.’ Then Jacob asked him and said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, ‘I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.’” Ge

32:28–30Do you realize that all forms of vulnerability to

manipulation come from that horrible parasitical existence that seeks to suck what it needs from the little bit of life

that God has given to others?

All forms of selfishness indicate that there is a break in union with God and that the selfish person is looking for

other humans to meet that need rather than God.

If we strive with God and gain His life, we will not look for what we need from those around us and can live as free

and satisfied people anxious to share life with them rather than trying to take the little bit of what they have.

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“He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and

with men and have prevailed.’ Then Jacob asked him and said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, ‘I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.’” Ge

32:28–30It is at this point when a word from the lips of God

transforms and softens the heart of Jacob who is now called “Israel”. What God says, becomes reality.

He never did that with Esau, but we may say for certain that Esau got what he wanted in God’s Permissive will and

certainly what he deserved, but Israel got mercy that he did NOT deserve.