Malachi 3:1-18

Intentions are important for us to understand.  In our relationships, whether romantic or business, we find it very helpful and even vital to understand one another’s intentions.  It is also very important to our relationship with God for us to understand His intentions towards us.  This is one of the many reasons that God gave us Scripture and is the real point of all prophecy.  God understands our intentions perfectly because He knows everything about us including our thoughts and motives.  We, on the other hand, would be at a complete loss for understanding God’s intentions were it not for the Scriptures.  Malachi 3 gives us some very clear insights as to God’s intentions for His people and what He intends to accomplish with His coming.

GOD INTENDS TO CONFORM US TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON: The coming of the Lord Jesus to this earth, both His first and second comings, were and will be for the purpose of conforming people to the likeness of Jesus.  He fully intends to refine and purify His children so that they will be more like Him.  That process was clearly set into motion from the foundations of the earth but His first coming was a massive step forward in the accomplishment of that mission.  His second coming will be another massive step in the direction of conforming God’s children to His own image.  Christ death and resurrection as well as His sending the Holy Spirit and His representation of us at the right Hand of the father are all intended to conform those who believe to the image of Christ.  However, our ability to recognize this reality is often very limited.  We may know this truth but the reality of our lives is that we still look and feel very far away from this goal.  God intends to rectify this disparity in a more complete way through the second coming of Christ.  He will refine His children like precious metals and the result will be that His children will be holy and pure and their worship will be fully accepted by the Lord.  The glorious news is that we will have the joy of living in this new reality of conformity with Christ for all of eternity.

GOD INTENDS TO CONFRONT US WITH THE TRUTH OF OUR SIN: Conformation with Christ is accomplished through confrontation of sin.  As we wait for the Lord’s return Malachi points out to us some areas that concern God and that must be changed if we are going to enjoy this new reality that God is preparing for us.  There are obviously multiple areas that need to be confronted but there is significance in the two specific areas mentioned in this text.  The first is robbing God by not giving our tithes and offerings in a complete a sincere way.  When we contribute to the work of the Lord we are aligning ourselves with what He is striving to accomplish on the earth and demonstrating our allegiance to the Lord in every area of our lives.  When we give half-heartedly or grudgingly and do not have the faith to give at least a tithe of our income we are demonstrating our refusal to prioritize God’s will.  This is the reason for much of our stress over financial matters on earth.  God challenges us to make Him the priority and then watch Him make astounding provision.  The second area of concern is with our words of doubt over the goodness and character of God.  He does not appreciate it when we doubt His goodness or His power.  So often as we look at the condition of the world in which we live we question if God is really in control or we say that if He is in control than we doubt His goodness because of all the suffering that happens under His control.  This questioning of God with our words is deeply offensive to Him and He fully intends to confront us with this sin and put a stop to this kind of rebellion at His coming.  How dare we doubt the love and power of Him who suffered and died for us on the cross.  If instead of robbing God or doubting Him we will trust Him and serve Him we will experience all of the joy that He intends for all of eternity.