Faith First Media

Take No Pleasure in the Death of the Wicked

By Matthew Elton

© 2011 Matthew Elton

matt@faithfirstmedia.com

Yesterday, a man was eternally separated from God.   It was a day of rejoicing for many who has waited ten years to see him killed.  Osama Bin Laden was a man of unspeakable evil whose terrorist actions I strongly condemn.  He fully deserved to die.  But as a Christian, I do not take pleasure in the death in the wicked.  It saddens me to see many Christians rejoicing over a man's eternal separation from God, when we know that it is God's will that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, so Christians should not either.  We believe that God has not treated us as our sins deserve, but extended grace and mercy by offering his Son Jesus Christ to die in our place.  Jesus calls his followers to be children of God by showing to other people the same love and mercy that God has shown to us.  Therefore killing other people can never be justified under any circumstance.  Jesus changed "An eye for an eye" into "love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you."  Why?  "So that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

Consider the radical love and mercy of Jesus, who, even as he was being crucified, cried out for the Father to forgive the very men who were putting him to death (Luke 23:34).

God is not wishing that any should perish.  He wishes that all would come to repentance and be saved, even the most evil men.  Take the Apostle Paul for example.  He was a mass murderer who killed many Christians, and thought that he was serving God because of it.  He had a passion to serve God, but was misguided.  The world looks at someone like that and says he should be killed.  God looks at someone like that and says that he would be a citizen of the Kingdom of God, if only he could come to repentance.  Through an encounter with Jesus, Paul's life was changed and he became one of the greatest Christians who ever lived.  Paul found new life in Jesus Christ, and that is God's will for every person.

Jesus said there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than 99 righteous people who don't need repentance (Luke 15:7).  I imagine there is also great mourning in heaven over one sinner who is eternally lost.  While people on earth rejoice over the killing of a man, heaven mourns.  That is the difference between heaven and earth.

If it seems counter-cultural for Christians not to rejoice in the death of a man so evil, it is only because Jesus is counter-cultural, and he calls his followers to be counter-cultural... to be distinct and set apart from the rest of the world.

"'Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?' declares the Sovereign LORD. 'Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?'"  --Ezekiel 18:23

"I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." --Jesus (Matthew 4:44-45)

"The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." --2 Peter 3:9