A vase shatters, brushed by a careless elbow; a toy breaks, handled roughly by young fingers; and fabric rips, pulled by strong angry hands. Spills and rips take time to clean up, effort to repair, and money to replace, but far more costly are shattered relationships. Unfaith­fulness, untruths, hateful words, and forsaken vows tear delicate personal bonds and inflict wounds not easily healed. Most tragic, however, is a broken relationship with God.1

Malachi understood all too well the tragedy of a broken rela­tionship with God. He saw it in his congregation, his fellow Jews. They had been in Babylonian exile. After years of deportation, the exiles returned under the leadership of their governor, Zerubbabel, they finished the temple in 516 BC. Forty-eight years later in 458 BC, the community was encouraged as several thousand more Jews and the priest, Ezra, marched back into the city.

Thirteen years later in 445 BC, King Artaxerxes permitted his cupbearer Nehemiah, to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls. As newly appointed governor he reformed the city and nation by helping the poor, encouraged the people to have a pure race by discouraging intermarriage with other nationalities, and taught them to keep the sabbath as a holy day and to bring their tithes and offer­ings faithfully to the temple of God.

True to human nature, once Nehemiah returned as he had promised King Artaxerxes in 433 BC, the people fell back into their sinful lifestyles. They claimed pessimism and discouragement was their excuse to sin! Their discouragement centered on several issues.

* Their glorious future announced by their prophets hadn’t come to fruition (Malachi 3:1).

* Their God hadn’t come to his temple in all his majesty and glory as they expected.

* Their exalted kingdom still wasn’t exalted.

* Their trust in God’s covenant love now wavered (Malachi 1:2).

* Their understanding of God’s justice sank like a rock (Malachi 2:17; 3:14-15).

Malachi understands their frustration and discouragement, but he certainly condemns their sin.

The people lay at the feet of God the charge that he is unjust because he has failed to come in judgment of the Gentiles and has failed to exalt his people the Jews. Malachi answers with an an­nouncement and a warning ringing in their ears. He will come to judge, “like a refiner’s fire” (Malachi 3:1-2 RSV) and they will be the first in line (Malachi 3:5). Their anticipation of that day will burn like a furnace (Malachi 4:1-6) because of their sin.

We also live in a day where sin dominates the lives of people of all races, cultures, gender, and age. There is no one who escapes its ugliness. The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NIV). So what are we to do? Are we destined for the fires of eternal hell without hope? Is that what Malachi’s message was to the people of Israel? No! Malachi pre­dicts that the Lord’s coming will fulfill God’s work in human his­tory. The fulfillment will be accomplished in the Messiah who God will bring to his people. So in the midst of judgment, salvation can be found only in the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Redemption Comes In The Midst Of Worship (Malachi 3:1)

Worship is the acknowledgment of my deepest heart need. The psalmist wrote, “My heart says to you ‘Seek his face!’ Your face, Lord, I will seek” (Psalm 27:8 NIV). I long for him. I hope for him. I seek for him. The inner part of my life craves to be filled with the Spirit of God. That’s the essence of worship!

To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.2

Worship is a heart-to-heart communication between the holy God and me! He speaks and my job is to listen and respond to his Spirit. C. S. Lewis said, “In the process of worshiping God he com­municates his Spirit to us.” That requires focus and time. Commu­nity worship experiences bring the corporate body into concentrat­ing on God. The same principle holds true in individual worship as our center of attention is spotlighted on the living God and nothing should divert that focal point!

At the heart of Christian worship are awe, praise, reverence, and adoration. Worship enflames the human spirit as the spark of God touches the embers of the human spirit. That flame will in­spire, sustain, and encourage the life of the believer. Exodus 25:22 says, “And I will meet with you there and talk to you....”

The story is told of a young climber to the Alps who was mak­ing his first climb. He hired two experienced guides. It was a steep, hazardous ascent to the top. But he felt secure with one guide ahead and the other following. Hours passed as they climbed the rocky side of the mountain. The summit was in sight and breathlessly they reached for those rocks protruding through the snow above them.

The lead guide wanted to let the young climber have the first glorious view of the incredible sight and moved aside to let him go first. Forgetting the gales that would blow across those summit rocks, the young man leaped to his feet. But the lead guide dragged him down. “On your knees, sir!” he shouted. “You are never safe here except on your knees.”

If we are to worship our God, it is on our knees in humility and reverence. It is on our knees that we find redemption from our haughtiness and sin.

Redemption Comes In The Midst Of Love (Malachi 3:1a)

God is sending his messenger. Why would he do that? After all it is the Israelites who have rebelled and been unfaithful. The mes­senger comes from a heart of love. Love tempers judgment. The Old and New Testaments are filled with stories, illustrations, quotes, and messages of God’s eternal love. The one verse that clings to the mind and typifies the essence of redemption is the classic, John 3:16: “For 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” (NIV). The writer, John, goes further as he pens, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17 NIV). What great and glo­rious news for the people of a fallen world who stand under eternal condemnation!

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our life­time; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we must be saved by love.3

A Christian is sure to grow lovely — by just loving — by just going on in love for Christ ... The soul grows wondrously lovely just by loving, by pouring out its faithful affection; and all the more so when the object of its affection is the Lord Jesus Christ, the one alto­gether lovely. We behold his face, Jesus’ face, as in a glass, and are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. But the result is permanent.4

Have you accepted this love that God offers? The offer is free, but it has come with a price. The price paid is the death of Jesus on the cross for your eternal redemption. Reach out today and accept that offer of love by loving him back.