Proverbs 9:10 – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

We come to know the holiness of God, that is, His perfect righteousness, through his wrath. Much of the Old Testament are pictures of God angry at sin, pouring out his wrath against it. God’s wrath comes to a head in the cross of Christ, when instead of small outpourings of God’s wrath, such as the flood or destructions of cities and nations, we finally see the true wrath of God against sin when the omnipotent, infinite wrath of God against sin is put on Jesus. For 3 hours, the whole earth is consumed in darkness (Luke 23:44-45). Jesus bore the wrath of God. We who are saved by faith in Jesus, were purchased by His blood. It is only when one sees and feels the weight of the wrath of God towards sin, acknowledges they incapable of any true “good” in themselves, and comes to an end of any attempt of self-righteousness, that God can work in that person wisdom as to how they are to live rightly.

At this point, I’m distinctly aware that none of this sounds “compassionate”, so was this title a mistake or a clever ruse to get someone to hear about the wrath of God against sin again? No. I started this, this way because this message is for Christians, and I feel like as Christians, many of us are well acquainted with sin already, feel the weight of it, and may be stymied by it. For you, I want to propose a healthy challenge – find one person all of the Bible who acknowledged their sin before Jesus, that Jesus was anything other than exceedingly compassionate and patient towards. To save you some time, there isn’t one. Jesus’ harshest words were always for the self-righteous (mostly Pharisees). You see Jesus have compassion on adulterers (John 4, John 8), prositutes (Luke 7:36-50), murderers (Acts 9:1-19), and thieves (Matthew 9:9-10).

A question for you, brother or sister in Christ. If Jesus has compassion on you, do you have compassion on yourself? The burden of sin you felt from the first paragraph above has been dealt with fully in Jesus. Jesus knows the weakness of our flesh. Jesus knows every way we’ve failed in the past, and every way we will fail in the future, just as he did with each person he met in the Bible, yet he met each person with compassion. My goal is never to make light of sin in our lives – we should all be putting it to death, striving towards the love of Christ in all things. We should with the same vigor fight against the lie of our enemy that sin holds weight on us now or in the future.

Matthew 11:28-30 – “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

These are the words of Jesus for you – it was for freedom Christ has set us free. If you see a distinction between God the Father, and Jesus, know that there is none – John 14:8-10 – “Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”  Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.”

When Jesus shows us compassion and love, He is showing the compassion and love of God to you. If knowing the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, it is knowing the love of God towards you in Christ Jesus that will complete it. Strive as Christians who know the compassion and love of Christ towards you in His grace personally, and carry that message forward to others in your life.