Letters to a Christian concerning what church to go to
Author: Steve Amato
Keywords: bible study,christian, church, love

# Letters to a Christian

## Question 9

## Malachi chapter 1

I am shepherd hind prakash from india. i accepted jesus last to last year and when i accepred it i really got heavenly peace , joy and satisfactionand i started serving zealously.this sunday i got oppuritinity to deliver a meessage in front of 100 people so i want your help , please 1 message based on malachi chapter.

i will really greatful to you if i will get any kind of fovor in your eyes.

1.Why God said that i loved Jacob and hated Easu and in John gospel he said that God so loved the world he gave his one and only son ?

2.why god wants any kind of honor from us?

3. what is the problem of human being ,why we failed to give our best to god?and what is the way to overcome it?

and conclution of the whole chapter of malachi 1.

## BCBSR Response

Good to hear from you. May God bless you in all your efforts to serve Him.

The study guides I have on Malachi can be found at http://www.bcbsr.com/books/mal.html

But I will give you my perspective on your particular questions:

1.Why God said that i loved Jacob and hated Easu and in John gospel he said that God so loved the world he gave his one and only son ?

Notice first why in Malachi the Lord hates Esau. In Mal 1:4 He says, "They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the LORD." Why did God hate them? Because they were a wicked people. They practiced wickedness. And for this reason the Lord said in verse 3 "I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals."

So also we see throughout the New Testament God expressing his wrath against wickedness, as for example Revelation 21:7,8 "He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars— their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." And earlier in that same epistle the LORD expresses his hatred of practices of wickedness even within the Christian community. For to the church of Ephesus he commends them in fellowshipping with Him in hating the practices of the Nicolatians. "You have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." Rev 2:6 The Nicolatians were "Christians" who practiced a licentious lifestyle freely committing acts of adultery and fornication and the like. To the church in Pergamum he warns, "I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans." Rev 2:14,15

Therefore there are things that God hates. There are things that God hates so much that people will be thrown into the lake of fire because they practice such things.

But doesn't God love everyone? Indeed it says, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 And "God our Savior, wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." 1Tim 2:3,4 But these verses acknowledge God's wrath. For it is God's wrath from which we need to be saved. His love does not invalidate his judicial nature. For why would Christ even have to die if God simply overlooked sin? Indeed other religions such as Islam do not acknowledge the necessity of the atoning work of Christ to satisfy God's judicial nature. Furthermore God's love for all does not mean that all will necessarily be saved. Even his disciples asked Him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." Luke 13:23,24 How did God demonstrate His love? "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Rom 5:8 "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." Mark 16:16

Therefore God loves and God also hates.

2. Why God wants any kind of honor from us?

Why does a parent want any kind of honor from their children, or a master honor from his servant? "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?"Mal 1:6 Notice of the 10 commandments the Lord gave Israel in Exodus 20 the first four are explicitly about honoring God. Consider even the first three:

Exodus 20:
2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 "You shall have no other gods before me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

So also with respect to honoring parents in the fifth commandment He says, "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you." Ex 20:12 This principle can also be expanded to find some application in all appropriate vertical relationships we have in society such as government/citizen, husband/wife, employer/employee, and so forth - a respect of which the Lord alludes to here in Malachi 1:6.

But why should it be this way? For example why should children respect their parents? Certainly parents would love to have their children respect them. And afterall parents do so much for their children. But it is not simply for that reason that the Bible teaches honor. It is because their position as parents is symbolic of God. What is God's attitude towards those who curse their parents? Though not being directly applicable today as it was given to the Jews living under the Law, the Lord declares, "Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death." Ex 21:17 Our attitudes towards legitimate human authority is a reflection of our attitude towards God and God is deeply offended at those who are contemptuous of Him by their being contemptuous of the human authority figures He has established. Therefore it links these saying, "Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people."Ex 22:28

Why should God feel offended at the dishonor with which He had been treated as He speaks of in Malachi? I would ask why would a parent feel offended if they were cursed by their children. Or what if a child were giving a gift to "honor" their parents, but their gift was simply something something they were trying to get rid of anyway, like throwing away garbage? Not only would a parent not feel honor from such a "gift", they would feel that they were being treated with contempt. That is the picture we see here in Malachi 1:7,8 "You place defiled food on my altar. "But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' "By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty." This is the point of that passage.

As to why it is appropriate to honor the Lord at all, it is written, "My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty. "But you profane it by saying of the Lord's table, 'It is defiled,' and of its food, 'It is contemptible.'" Mal 1:11,12 and He says, "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations." Mal 1:14 Thus we see that the main reason here to honor the Lord with good things is because the Lord is great.

King David elaborates on this concept of worshipping and honoring the Lord and even giving offerings simply because He is great. Notice Psalm 96

Psalm 96:
1 Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
3 Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.
4 For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, Give to the LORD glory and strength.
8 Give to the LORD the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
9 Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously."
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice
13 before the LORD. For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.

These are the reasons why we worship the Lord.

3. what is the problem of human being ,why we failed to give our best to god? and what is the way to overcome it?

The first two and a half chapters of the book of Romans in the New Testament perhaps most explicitly elaborate on the first question, and the rest of Romans up to chapter 8 answer the second. But to be brief, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:23,24 So first to please God we need to have our sins forgiven. "Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things."Isaiah 59:1-3 But of those covered under the blood of the New Covenant "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." Romans 4:7,8 (quoting David from Ps 32:1)

But what of the change in a person's actual behavior? For to just be forgiven of sin does not mean a person will then overcome their innate sinfulness. But God has made provision for this in regeneration of the believers. For "to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." John 1:12,13 And "This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." 1John 5:3-5 The effect of regeneration is so visible and reliable as to be an indication that one is actually born of God, as it is written, "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother." 1John 3:9,10

Thus for those who have put their faith in Christ, the Lord deals with our sins first by justifying us by the atoning work of Christ which satisfies God's judicial naturea and thus allows Him to forgive our sins. And secondly He is sanctifying us through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit which cleans up our act as we cooperate.

Those are some ideas that may help you prepare.

Steve Amato
The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources
http://www.bcbsr.com

The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources