The Passion for Righteousness

UV 3670/10000 The Passion for Righteousness You have loved righteousness ( integrity, virtue, uprightness in purpose) and have hated lawlessness ( injustice, sin). Therefore, God, Your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. Psalm45 v 7 This uni-verse is cited as fulfilment of a Messianic promise in Hebrews chapter one. It meant that Jesus was set apart from all humans. Jesus, the Christ was anointed with the oil of gladness or jubilation or victory above all humans as He during His earthly sojourn took a stand against evil, wickedness, sin and a total commitment to justice, righteousness, integrity, virtue. Hence, God the Father being pleased with Him, testified of Him, “This is my beloved Son, listen to Him.” If we listen to His word and do likewise, we too will be anointed with the oil of gladness above our companions. On one hand, we have to love righteousness and the other, hate evil. This will enable us to do what Paul exhorted the early church to do: to cling to good, to get rid of evil. Jesus even in the tiniest detail of the law and prophecies did His best to fulfill even though He did not need to. For example, He did not need to take the baptism of repentance of John the Baptist but He insisted. He was setting an example that all who believe in His name need to be “born of the water.” He paid the temple tax even though He had no income. When confronted by a woman caught in adultery, He wrote in the sand, “forgiven” but paid with His blood even for that woman. One thief who repented, He forgave on the cross but the other He could not as salvation has to be preceded by repentance, however it is expressed. As siblings of Jesus, we too need to have a passion to love the goodness of God and to hate evil with equal passion. When we do so, we reflect the character of Jesus, the very character of the Father. We belong to the family of God, His geneology not by our bloodline or lineage but by character and commitment. If we want to enter and share the Shekinah or radiant glory of Jesus as He sits on the throne next to the Father, this is the cost we need to pay. Jesus has sent us the Holy Spirit and gives us His grace to enable, to equip, to empower us to be able to reflect His character on earth. Just as people see the character of God in Jesus, they should be able to see the character of Jesus in us. A certain gentleman, senior to me, who does not worship my God embarrasses me by sometimes calling me messiah. I protest and when he continues to do so, I confess that I am at best “mess -i-am”. However, I told him that I am happy if he sees even a small aspect of the Messiah Jesus in me.