Then, They Shall Know I am the Lord!
God is not pushy. He does not force us to do things. He gives us our choice in life. We can reject Him as Lord, if that is what we decide to do. However, He knows how to make it perfectly clear that He is the Lord, so that if we reject Him, we know we are making the wrong choice.(Ezekiel 7:27) That is what He did to the people of Jerusalem and Judah, and that is what He will do every time.
No one will be able to stand before God and say, "I did not know You were the Creator of all things." They may have come to the conclusion on their own that the world just happened and evolved, but He made it clear through what He showed them that the world had to be created by an All-Powerful, All-Knowing God. No one will be able to stand before God and say, "I did not know You were concerned about my life and You wanted me to trust You as Lord of my life." They may reject Him as Lord of their lives, but He made His love and His direction clear to them. One way that God does this is by His punishment of sin. It is obvious that there is an Unchanging Moral Authority who always punishes sin.(Romans 1:18) This shows clearly that we can't decide right and wrong. He decided, and He enforces His will and way.
However, He does what He does to show us plainly that He is the Lord, because He desires for all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.(I Timothy 2:4) It breaks the heart of God to see anyone reject the truth of His Lordship, because He knows that they are choosing an eternity of punishment without Him. Our Loving Father pursues us to show us that Jesus Christ is the Lord who came to earth as the God/Man to show us the Way, the Truth, and the Life.(John 14:6) In spite of all of His efforts, the human heart is hardened by continual rejection and pride, so that people will reject the obvious. I pray that all of us will listen to Him and trust Him as Lord.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezekiel 8-10.
No one will be able to stand before God and say, "I did not know You were the Creator of all things." They may have come to the conclusion on their own that the world just happened and evolved, but He made it clear through what He showed them that the world had to be created by an All-Powerful, All-Knowing God. No one will be able to stand before God and say, "I did not know You were concerned about my life and You wanted me to trust You as Lord of my life." They may reject Him as Lord of their lives, but He made His love and His direction clear to them. One way that God does this is by His punishment of sin. It is obvious that there is an Unchanging Moral Authority who always punishes sin.(Romans 1:18) This shows clearly that we can't decide right and wrong. He decided, and He enforces His will and way.
However, He does what He does to show us plainly that He is the Lord, because He desires for all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.(I Timothy 2:4) It breaks the heart of God to see anyone reject the truth of His Lordship, because He knows that they are choosing an eternity of punishment without Him. Our Loving Father pursues us to show us that Jesus Christ is the Lord who came to earth as the God/Man to show us the Way, the Truth, and the Life.(John 14:6) In spite of all of His efforts, the human heart is hardened by continual rejection and pride, so that people will reject the obvious. I pray that all of us will listen to Him and trust Him as Lord.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezekiel 8-10.