1 Peter 3:12: For The Eyes Of The Lord Are On The Righteous, And His Ears Are Open To Their Prayer. But The Face Of The Lord Is Against Those Who Do Evil.

1 Peter 3:12

[12] For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (ESV)

Many people have a view of God that only incorporates the character traits that they like. They like the idea of God being a God of love. They assume this means that God is kind of a mushy old grandfather, who winks at all of our ungodly behavior. The Apostle Peter describes a God who is not this way. He is looking at the righteous and the unrighteous. His look is different, depending on who he is looking at.

As he looks at the righteous, he is looking at his children. We refer to him as our heavenly father. We are even instructed to approach him boldly, and affectionately. 1Galatians 4:6 tells us, "And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” That word, "Abba," is a term of affection, which we could translate, "Daddy."

We are reminded in 1 Peter 3:12 that God is a holy God. His perfect righteousness cannot stand with the sinfulness of mankind. Man's sin is a direct rebellion against God's perfect, holy, standard. The reason he can look at us with love and hear our prayer is because at Salvation we received the perfect, holy, righteousness of Jesus, which was purchased by his shed blood.

The wicked man does not have the righteousness of Christ. When God sees the one who does evil, he sets his face against him. One thing you can be sure of; you do not want the Creator of the universe to be against you. When we look at those who do not believe in God, we need to remember that the face of the Lord is against them. Pray for those who do evil. Introduce them to Jesus, who can forgive them.

As you pray today, rejoice in the fact that you have been given the righteousness of Christ, and he hears your prayer. You can call him, Abba! Pray for those you know who the Lord's face is against.