Of Enemies and the Unrighteous

Recently I have been thinking a bit more about the revelation of Jesus concerning those that would be considered His enemies.  Recently I read some of Jesus' teaching from the Sermon on the Mount, and was really encouraged to look deeper at how God thinks about those that we would classify as His enemies or at least those outside of His plan of salvation.  I find that much of my thinking has been colored by verses like the following from Psalm 11:4-7 NIV:

[4] "The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them.
[5] The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.
[6] On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot.
[7] For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face."

Much of the Old Testament has similar themes, God blessing the righteous, hating the unrighteous.  The issue is that this appears to be related to the partial revelation they were living under, concerning God's character.  If we contrast these words from Psalm 11, with Jesus' words from Matthew's Gospel we see a significant difference.  Here is Jesus speaking about enemies - Matthew 5:43-48 NIV:

[43] “You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' [44] But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, [45] that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. [46] If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? [47] And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? [48] Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

This is almost mind-blowing, if we really think about what Jesus is saying about the Father!  If we are to imitate Him, and be perfect as He is perfect, then we are to love our enemies like He loves His enemies.  He blesses the righteous and the unrighteous, and so should we!  This seems like a completely different message than what was communicated in Psalm 11, and this is where we need to apply the principle of progressive revelation.  Jesus being the perfect representation of the Father (Heb. 1:3) is speaking a truer word than David was in the Psalms, concerning those that would be seen as unrighteous or evil.  Jesus is revealing to us that the Father loves these that we would consider evil or unrighteous, prays for them, and blesses them!  He does the same for the righteous, as well!  In my understanding this looks like love and blessing, and more love and more blessing, not hate and love, or punishment and blessing. This is really a challenging proposition to the way I think.

If we take this thinking to a more selfish perspective of what difference does it make to me then if I am pursuing righteousness or not, if God is going to love me and bless me all the same?  The answer appears to be relationship.  If the unrighteous and evil are loved and blessed by God, the difference for us, is that we are invited into and able to walk in real relationship with God!  We have the opportunity to walk in intimacy with God, to converse with Him, to see things from His perspective, to embrace and bless as His representatives.  We can learn to walk in our true identities and have open to us the realities of the Kingdom!  We can become His true sons and daughters here on earth, living the reality of eternal life now!  This is meant to be a better life, a life of recognized blessing and gratitude!

From this place of relationship, the invitation is then to love, bless and pray for those that would be considered the unrighteous, our enemies, even those that are evil.  If righteousness is only truly possible through faith and belief in Jesus, then those who have not yet received salvation through the Gospel of Grace would be those that are considered unrighteous.  We are to love them, bless them and pray for them, even as God does!  We are not to pray down judgment, or punishment or condemnation!  We should be for them and treat them as ones that God loves!

This is obviously much more complex then I have presented, and there are nuances and circumstances to consider,  but in general the message appears clear to me. This will take time to digest and allow my thinking to truly change, for it is so easy to embrace the black and white, the good and bad, the dark and light mindset.  Jesus has revealed the truth of God's Love for all, and I am challenged to embrace this truth and to represent this truth!

Amen!