Those who have been following me the past few months have heard that I believe the U.S. has entered a state of judgment. I don’t believe it is coming anymore; I believe it is here, with only a matter of time for it be carried out. Yet, for the Christian there is hope. We need to share that hope. We will go through a time of fierce persecution. It will cleanse and purify us, but in that there will be a restoration process. Many people want revival and for us to get back to where we once were. Unfortunately, in order for that to be possible, we have to first go through trouble. This is God’s pattern.
Our sin is ultimate against God, first and foremost. That sin breaks our relationship with God. It doesn’t damage it. It doesn’t hinder it. It doesn’t merely “block our blessings from God.” It cuts us off from God. Despite that, God seeks to save us and to restore us. But He has a process for how He does this. Today and next week, I’ll look at this process.
It is critical to know the character of God and the nature of sin before I can move on here. God is a righteous God, a holy God, a just God. Sin is an utter defiance against God. God cannot dwell in the presence of sin. Not because sin is so powerful that it repels God like kryptonite. Rather, it is God being merciful and not destroying that sin on the spot. When we have sin in our lives, in order to let us live any longer, God has to withdraw Himself or He will crush us in His holiness and purity. So what has to happen for peace to be made?
The simple answer is the cross. Jesus died on the cross to take the penalty for sin. How was David able to get back in right standing with God after his sin with Bathsheba? Most people answer: because Jesus would take the penalty on the cross and David had put his trust on the coming Savior. But there is a detail that not many people catch. For David to be restored, he had to be broken. He had to recognize what his sin truly was and whom it was against. He had to turn from that sin, long to be freed from it, and fall at the feet of his Savior. David expressed this process in the greatest penitent song ever written: Psalm 51.
But David did something that few will: David presented himself before God, broken and humble. What do most people do? Continue on their sinful path until God stops them. Think of Jonah. During the storm, Jonah didn’t confess his sin. He insisted on being thrown overboard so he’d drown and not have to go to Nineveh. God obviously had other plans. In Jonah’s case, God stopped him and broke him. Spending three days inside a large fish (or whale) has that effect. It took extreme circumstances to get Jonah to finally submit to God’s command.
There’s a pattern here: 1) God’s command, 2) sin, 3) rebuke, 4) brokenness, 5) restoration. Let’s go through this with David. David was supposed to go to war, but he stayed back. He saw Bathsheba, committed adultery, and then murdered her husband who refused to unintentionally cover David’s sin. Then the prophet Nathan rebuked him. David realized ultimately what he did and wept before God, writing Psalm 51. Upon repentance, David’s relationship with God was restored (though the consequences for his sin would follow).
What about Jonah? God commanded Jonah to go preach to Nineveh. Jonah ran from God. God sent a storm against that ship where Jonah hid and then sent a large fish to swallow him. Jonah repented. God then gave him the command again and sent him on his way. Same pattern.
God always does things His way and we always see Him using the same pattern. But let me address what happens when the process isn’t completed. King Saul was one case. Let’s look at 1 Samuel 13. God commanded Saul to wait for Samuel for a sacrifice. Saul got antsy and impatient. He offered the sacrifice just as Samuel arrived. Samuel rebuked him, but there was no brokenness. No interest in repentance. No desire to be made right with God. As a result, no restoration. God gave Saul a second chance. He commanded him to destroy the Amalekites. Saul spared the best of the spoils. Samuel came to rebuke him. Again, no brokenness. No Godly sorrow. And this time, no further chances to be restored. Saul spent the rest of his reign in rebellion against God, plagued by evil spirits, and paranoid of the one whom God said would take over this throne.
We play the part of the sinner in breaking our relationship with God. God initiates the restoration process. But we have to man up and take responsibility for it. We’d never seek that restoration on our own. That’s what our sinful nature is like; we are in constant rebellion against God. It takes God to initiate the restoration process. After we’ve sinned, God rebukes us, we respond in brokenness and repentance, and then He restores us.
But there is more to this process. Next week, I am going to zoom in to the breaking and restoration processes. News flash: it’s not a pleasant time to go through, but it’s the most valuable and worthwhile process we could ever experience. Get a quick preview by reading Jeremiah 1:10.
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