THE GREAT MESSAGE TO
BE GIVEN OUT BE CONCILIATED TO GOD! "Is GOD beseeching me to be conciliated to Him? I thought He was angry because of my sins and that Christ seeks to avert His wrath. Must I not pray for pardon?" Never! God is doing the praying now! Your prayers will only drown His entreaties! God gave His Son to die; He made Him sin for us in order that we might become His justness; and now He is sending Christ, whose ambassadors we are, to tell men of His desire for reconciliation. Do not try to conciliate God. You could never do it. Ggd has already done it for Himself, in Christ. Now He needs no conciliation. All the estrangement there is left is on your part, and the quickest way to get rid of it is to listen to God's entreaties to lay it aside and be conciliated to Him. "What about my sins ?" God made Christ sin and He has effectually settled the question by His death on Golgotha. "How may I know that this is satisfactory?" God raised Him from the dead because of the glory which it brought to Him. and He has ascended and is seated at God's right hand. Do not worry about your sins. The worse they are the more glory it will bring to Him to display His justice in reckoning you as though they had never occurred. He will give you His own justice in their place. "But what about my feelings? I have had harsh thoughts of God for what I thought were His unkind providences." He refuses to take any account of offenses. His heart Sit down and think it over. The moment your thoughts stray back to yourself they are off the track. There is nothing in yourself to satisfy you. When you sit at the table you do not satiate yourself with hunger, but with food. Your own emptiness should give you a longing for God, but it won't satisfy you. Feed on the fact that God not only has provided everything, but is actually entreating you to enjoy His provision. Let me tell you a secret. The greatest thing, after all, is not your salvation and reconeiliation, but God 's glory. That is what everything is for. There is sin in order that He may be a Saviour. There is estrangement in order that He may be a Reconciler. He never would have allowed sin to come between you and Him unless it would turn out for His glory and your blessing in the end. "But I thought the Bible taught that He wants to turn me over to everlasting torment." Nothing of the kind. Just as sin serves His purpose of love so does judgment. It is temporary and remedial, just as a parent uses it to correct his child. "Everlasting," in the Bible never means endless, and God created evil for His creatures' good. "God is the Saviour of all men, especially of those who believe." Do not wait for Him to use extreme means to bring you to a sense of His grace and love. Respond to it now! Ponder this -- God actually condescending to pray you to be conciliated to Him! You may not be able to realize it fully, but believe it as best you can because He Himself has said it. Don't intrude with a sorry tale about your sins. The blood of Christ has satisfactorily and finally settled that. Don't pray back. That is an insult. "What shall I do, then?" Thank Him for it! |
|
[Return To Contents]
|