The heart of God

The subject of God is one that has and will continue to be a hot topic. Throughout centuries, men have been trying to figure out this being who is more powerful than them; they have been working hard at making themselves equal to Him to their dismay. Indeed, it seems, the more man understands something the more he realizes that he knows nothing. The study of our world alone through natural sciences (geology, biology, chemistry, physics, etc.) including astronomy shows us that man is complex, yet very small, limited and finite in the universe. One would think such a revelation would humble man but no, he continues to believe he is the most powerful being out there. Our world has different views of God: 1) He is an angry judge who enjoys punishing His creatures. 2) He is a being who is in need of affection, hence He created us humans to satisfy Him and make Him feel good about Himself. 3) God is love and whatever you do, He approves and lets you be. 4) God is my servant (obviously no one will say it this way but calling upon God only when we need something is an expression of that statement). 5) your are god. One thing that these multiple views of God show us about us humans is that we do not know much and our minds are depraved. The bible is clear that God is more powerful than we are and we will spend the rest of eternity figuring Him out. He is that mighty! We know that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6-7). During His ministry, Jesus often went to people that were humble in nature, he sought to bring salvation to such people. This observation stood out to me this week as I continued my reading through Isaiah. I saw that the heart of God can be summarized in one word and that is salvation.

If you are like me, the word salvation is one that you have heard many times and it probably points you to the work of Christ on the cross freeing us sinners from the power or sin and the wrath of God that we deserved and that is true but often times we gloss over what that really entails and miss what exactly salvation is. Salvation, in the Greek’s strong concordance means ‘deliverance’, ‘preservation’, ‘safety’. In the Merriam-Webster, it is defined as “liberation from ignorance or illusion”, “preservation from destruction or failure”, “deliverance from danger or difficulty”. You see, God’s salvation includes all areas of our lives; the effects of the power of sin over us, the oppression of the enemy and more. God is concerned with a holistic deliverance, He does not just want us to be delivered from one area of bondage and not the other, He wants all of us to be saved. No wonder the bible says that when we are in Christ we are a new creature, the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). That is why Jesus came so that we would have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). In Isaiah 61, if you are familiar with this passage, it is the passage that Jesus declared was about him, he said he fulfilled that passage as he finished reading it in Luke 4 (Luke 4:18-21). That passage revealed the heart of God towards men in a new way to me. According to Isaiah 61, Jesus came so that the year of the Lord favour would be proclaimed; he came so that the captives would be set free; he came so that the brokenhearted would be bound up or healed; he came so that the poor – humble would receive good news; he came so that prisoners or the blind would be released from darkness; he came so that those who mourned would be comforted and provision would come to those who grieve; he came to proclaim the day of vengeance of our God; he came to bestow on those who grieve a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair (Isaiah 61:1-3). The salvation that Jesus brought about is a full salvation, it covers every area of your life, it includes anything you might be going through, the deception, the heartache, the stress, the depression, the doubt, the sickness, etc. Jesus paid it all! God’s heart is so good and kind! I was simply overwhelmed by the degree of love that God displayed towards us, to think of us sinners in such a way as to want to save us holistically is just amazing. Isaiah 53 tells us that Jesus or the suffering servant interceded for us guilty people (Isaiah 53:12) whereas usually an intercession, a plea in the court of law is for the righteous, yet Jesus interceded for the guilty. What manner of love is this? Indeed, God is good and He loves you. Believe that. He took the punishment that you deserved willingly. He saved you so that you would not go back to your oppressive ways, to your life of bondage but He saved you so that you would live a fully and wholly committed life unto Him. The only thing He requires of you is your belief and your obedience. There is nothing you can do to stop Him from loving you, you cannot add to what He has done, nor can you erase what He has done. Unlike what the world thinks, God is self-sufficient and He does not need anyone to fulfill Him. He is His own fulfillment and His own satisfaction. God is a judge, yes but He is also a Father who chastises. In His capacity of judge, he judges those who have decided to live like their own gods, those who have decided to take His place. There is only One who is True, One who is Just and One who is Righteous. God is a jealous God. If you try to live in any way that is not submissive to the One true God, you have set yourself up to be in opposition with Him. And that is not a good place to find yourself in because “it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). The love of God, the mercy of God, the kindness of God, the goodness of God, all of these excellent attributes that make Him God are expressed in His salvific action towards Men.

For far too long we have been believing the lie of the enemy that God does not love us, that He cannot redeem us, that our lives are not worth living, that there is no hope meanwhile God, just like wisdom has been crying out in the streets has been telling us that it is a lie and that we are victorious! We have been set free! God is on the throne, nothing in this life can change the course of our lives because we know whom we have believed. We have been called to live by faith and not by sight because this world is not our home yet even in this world we are victorious. I love that the Lord did not just stop at saving us but He gave us His Spirit to accompany us and guide us throughout our earthly lives. I don’t know about you but this week, I could not just fathom the goodness of God. I couldn’t believe that His salvation was from every and anything that was not true, noble, right, pure, just, lovely, deserving of excellence; from anything that did not elevate the will of God and the character of God in my life. This is huge and I must say my brain has not fully grasped it but I rejoice because that is my portion. Victory is mine, it is yours too if you have believed in Christ. Hallelujah! Let us remind ourselves of these truths daily in order to stand in the face of adversity. Amen!