Proverbs 6:16-17. 16There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 17… hands that shed innocent blood.
This next sin that God hates is a big one – shedding innocent blood.
From eyes, to tongue, to hands. From pride, to lying, to violence. The Bible is full of this fatal progression. Cain with Abel. David with Uriah. The Jewish authorities with Jesus. The journey from pride, to false witness, to harming the innocent is not a far off stretch reserved only for the deranged. Any of us can fall into this same downward spiral. Yes, even to the point of violence, and even to murder.
God hates murder. He abhors the harming of the innocent. Why? Because as Genesis 9 says, man is made in the image of God. Every human life belongs to God. We are all his to control. To take life is to play God. It is the ultimate in pride, rebellion, and treachery.
Maybe you’re thinking I would never murder anyone. I would never shed innocent blood. So what’s the next verse? Well, anyone who knows the Sermon on the Mount knows better. Jesus taught us that hatred is equal to murder in God’s legal system. When we hate someone we have killed them in our hearts. Anger and murder are steps on the same path. First comes anger then comes violence, and whatever form that violence takes it is an abomination to the God who loves his creation enough to die for it.
Jesus was THE innocent person whose blood was shed by the hands of angry people. When Jesus was nailed to the cross God hated it. But God also loved those people so much that he let Jesus die for them…for you and for me. Like those people that crucified Jesus, we’re not innocent either, are we? Jesus was innocent and his blood was shed, but we are completely guilty, and yet God chose to save us not hurt us.
This truth alone is what can bring us out of our hate and anger and back into humble standing with God. Consider how James describes our hatred, our “murder,” and our failure to trust God:
James 4:1-10. 1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? …8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Quarrels. Fights. Murders. All stemming from misplaced desires. Selfish desires. Plus, a lack of faith in the desire satisfying nature of God.
Union with Christ is the cure. When we trust who we are in Christ, and as we learn to trust God to be God for us, and not others, we can replace anger and hate with faith and love. Love that flows from the exalting grace of God through Jesus.
You: Who have you been angry with lately?
You in Christ: How does trusting God’s great love for us allow us to replace our hatred with that love?
Christ in you: Are there any innocent people that you have harmed with angry words or deeds? How might Jesus in you want you to make amends?
Pray: Jesus, you were innocent yet you died for me. Help me to trust that love to diminish my anger. Amen.
To Live is Christ 