God finishes what He started (Malachi 4:1-6)

Intro

1. Context: The Final Word Before the Silence

GracePointe, what an awesome day we are having as we have heard our choir, our youth team, an update from Juan about the awesome things happening in Morelia. God is good and we are seeing fruit here in our community.

There can be times when the fruit takes a while to see. Have you ever been doing the right thing, choosing the right thing, saying the right thing…but nothing right is happening. You might ask yourself, is this even worth it. Does it matter?

Malachi closes the Old Testament. The people have rebuilt the temple, but their hearts are tired. Worship has grown careless, faithfulness feels costly, and evil seems to prosper. God’s last message before four hundred years of silence is not despair—it’s a reminder that He always finishes what He starts.

“For behold, the day is coming…” (v. 1)

This phrase turns their eyes forward. Instead of where have you been God…they are told…there will be a day. it is coming… To the original audience, this is the future and God’s plan is already in motion. The same God who called Abraham, delivered Israel, and rebuilt Jerusalem will bring His work to completion. That is our primary focus today….God will finish what He started.

Our verses point to a few things God will finish. The first is that God will finish Justice.

2. Verse 1 — God Will Finish Justice

We see that in Malachi 4…verse1

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble.”

The “day” in prophetic language is the day when God’s righteousness is revealed. Nothing crooked will remain unstraightened. The image of fire is deliberate: not random destruction but purifying justice. Controled by the one who can control all things.

Israel had asked back in 2:17, “Where is the God of justice?” Here is the answer: He is coming. His delay is mercy, but His justice is certain.

Here is an aspect of the hard conversation that God is wrapping up here in Malachi. As much as I would love to, because it would feel better, because it would seem less harsh….I can’t tone down that for some…this day for those who are arrogant and doing evil will mean this: It is inevitable and and it will totally consume. God’s justice is thorough.

We picture the heat of a baking kiln……enclosed, focused, and unstoppable. Those who are arrogant and practicing evil…..will be reduced to stubble. The “stubble” refers to the dry stalks left after harvest — brittle and quickly consumed by fire. It symbolizes the proud and wicked, whose lives lack lasting substance before God.

For those who choose their way, their pride, their selfishness leads to ruin. God does not shrug away arrogance and evil. He deals with it. His justice is pending.

Joel 2 paints a similar picture—“a day of darkness and gloom… a fire devours before them”—reminding us that God’s judgment is never random but a deliberate, purifying act that sweeps away evil. Nahum 1:10 echoes the same truth, saying the wicked are “consumed like stubble fully dried,” reinforcing Malachi’s image of a holy fire that leaves no trace of pride or rebellion standing.

Faithfulness, then, means trusting that God’s justice is thorough—even when it feels slow. He does not forget. God will finish justice….He will finish what He started.

3. Verse 2 — God Will Finish Healing

The day of the Lord for the arrogant and evil doer is one of fear…however we read in verse 2

Malachi 4:2 “2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.”

Now the tone changes from warning to warmth. The same sun that scorches the proud brings life to the faithful. “Sun of righteousness” brings light after darkness. This is the presence of the Lord that restores.

In the New Testament, this dawn breaks in Jesus. Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, calls Him “the sunrise from on high” (Luke 1:78). Through Christ, the fire of judgment becomes the light of salvation.

Those who revere the Lord, those who live lives reflecting the rule and reign of the Lord. That is the primary difference….one doesn’t think they need God….so the act accordingly. One desperately knows they need God…so they act accordingly. This is not about moral striving. Depending 100% on the Lord.

Notice the promise: “you shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.” That’s unrestrained joy—creation renewed, hearts made whole. God not only ends injustice; He heals what sin has broken.

If we can’t tone down the warning, we also can’t tone down the promise. We can take joy and hope in knowing that God will finish healing through the righteous one. We can hope in this because God will finish what He started.

4. Verses 3–4 — Justice and Healing will be done. Faithfulness While We Wait

Malachi 4:3 — “Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.

Malachi paints a vivid picture of final justice—evil completely overthrown, the wicked turned to ashes beneath the feet of the righteous. This isn’t about revenge but vindication—God setting right what sin has broken. On that day, His people rejoice not in destruction, but in a world finally made right under His rule.

Where evil once trampled the faithful, now God reverses the story. He finishes what He started—justice is complete, peace is restored.

This points to final victory—evil will not have the last word. But verse 4 pulls us back to daily life: “Remember.”

Malachi 4:4 “4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws ….

Faithfulness while we wait looks like remembering—anchoring ourselves in what God has already said. Malachi doesn’t tell Israel to predict the future; he tells them to obey in the present. That is something we need to remember as well this side of the cross.

When the future feels uncertain, we cling to what is sure: God’s Word, His covenant, His character. That’s how faith endures between promise and fulfillment. We need to obey today as we wait for tomorrow.

And we wait faithfully, not with resignation but with hope. Every act of obedience, every prayer in the dark, every quiet moment of faith is rooted in this truth: God finishes what He starts.

5. Verses 5–6 — God Will Finish Redemption

Verses 2–6 — God Will Finish Redemption

Verses 2–4 move from healing to holiness: those who receive God’s light live rightly (“remember the law of Moses”), while those who resist it are consumed. God’s people are called to faithfulness as they wait—anchored in His Word and character.

Then comes the final promise:

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes…” (vv. 5–6)

So who is Elijah? Elijah was one of Israel’s greatest prophets, raised up during deep spiritual compromise under King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. His ministry confronted idolatry head-on—calling Israel back to covenant faithfulness. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah prayed down fire from heaven on Mount Carmel, proving that the Lord alone is God.

Elijah’s passion for holiness, his call to repentance, and his role as a restorer of true worship made him the pattern for the prophet who would prepare the way for the Messiah.

Malachi isn’t saying Elijah himself would return, but that someone would come “in his spirit and power.” And that promise is fulfilled in John the Baptist (Luke 1:17; Matthew 11:14).

Just like Elijah, John lived simply and preached boldly. He wore camel’s hair with a leather belt—an intentional echo of Elijah’s garb—and called Israel back to repentance. Both men ministered in the wilderness, confronted corrupt leaders, and carried the same burning zeal for God’s holiness.

This matters because Malachi’s audience—and we today—live in the in-between. They were waiting for the Messiah; we wait for His return. And God’s reminder through Elijah and John is this: while you wait, stay faithful. Keep turning your heart back to the Lord This prophecy bridges a 400 year gap between the Old and New Testament. After these verses, there is an enormous amount of waiting, and waiting, and waiting….people wandering for generation after generation…is God even there. But even in our verses today we see redemption….

The closing image—“He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children”—shows what redemption looks like: restored relationships, reconciled hearts, covenant love passed down. God’s finishing work is not abstract—it changes homes, heals generations, and renews community. But the hard conversation is that end of Malachi feels abrupt. A curse is declared but God’s answer to sin’s curse…is Jesus Christ, His one and only son.

The answer to the curse is seen in the first words of the book of Matthew…. Matthew 1:1 “1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:” and John John 1:1 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” and Mark… Mark 1:1 “1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God,”

Sin’s curse has no hold because we have hope in Christ. The Day of the Lord began at the cross, where judgment and mercy met, and it will be completed at Christ’s return, when justice and healing fill the whole creation. God finishes what He starts.

6. Application: Faithful Hope

Because of the Hope we have in Christ, we hold three truths in tension:

God’s justice will be complete. Nothing wrong escapes His sight. This week, don’t give in to despair when wrong finds you but depend on the Lord.

God’s healing will be whole. The dawn has already begun in Christ. This week, ask yourself where His healing has already made an impact and soothed new and old wounds. Where does it still need to?

God’s promises will be finished. What He started in redemption He will bring to completion. This week, where do you need to give thought and energy to living out His promises. Promises of justice, healing, patience and seeing redemption both now and in the future.

Because we remain steadfast—not because we see everything now, but because we know the One who began a good work will carry it on to completion. God finishes what He starts and we say Amen!

7. Transition to Baptism

Baptism is a picture of this very truth. It declares that God finishes what He starts—that when He begins new life in someone, He brings it to completion.

As we witness these baptisms today, we celebrate the same faithful God Malachi spoke of: the God who purifies, heals, and restores—who never leaves His work half done. Let’s pray