To Encourage You

Isaiah 55:7 “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

The Bible is a collection of 66 books written by over 35 different authors.  Yet, there are only a few major themes – maybe just two.  One of them is the repeated message that every single one of us is a great sinner.  It’s a message that seems to be repeated on every page.  It’s said in such ways as direct statements, such as “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and it’s demonstrated to us over and over again in the lives of the people it describes. We see an entire world that has gone haywire in the story of Noah. It was a time when “the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5), and as a result, only eight people were saved from the worldwide flood that devastated the entire earth at that time.  But then we are told in Matthew 24 that the world at the time of Jesus’ second coming will be very much like it was in Noah’s time.  And why does the Bible repeat such a message? It’s because we need to hear it, for sin has so severely affected us and we can be so self-deceived that we see ourselves as “good” in the face of all the evidence to the contrary.  We can be so good at spotting the flaws of others, yet so blind to our own. We’re so often like the Pharisee who the Bible says prayed like this: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get” (Luke 18:11-12).  But it was the tax collector, whom Jesus said, was “standing far off, (and) would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” that Jesus said “went down to his house justified, rather than the other.”  And the fact is that if we don’t see the truth about ourselves, we’ll never seek the remedy, for as Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17).

But then there’s a second primary theme running throughout the Scriptures, seemingly on every page. It’s the message we read in the verse above from Isaiah 55. It’s the truth that if a person will simply turn to the Lord, God will have great compassion on him or her, and God will abundantly pardon.  It’s the message of God’s great grace.  It’s the truth that He is “good and ready to forgive” (Psalm 86:5).  And again, as in the first theme, God tells us this truth in direct statements but also in examples that are shown everywhere we look in His Word. We see it in the parable of the prodigal son, where the son returns in disgrace to his father and the father reacts in the following way: “’Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate” (Luke 15:22-24).  We see it in the forgiving heart of Joseph toward his wicked brothers in Genesis 43:30, where Joseph’s forgiving spirit is demonstrated as we are told “Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there.” It’s such a shadow of the heart of Jesus.  Listen as we are told that He cried out with longing towards rebellious Israel with the words, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37).  We see it from the cross when Jesus, in His agony, cried out “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). And we see it in the love of the Father, Who “so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  That’s the message of the cross, a message that fills the Word of God from beginning to end.

Yet, the Bible tells us that the way to eternal life is very narrow. It’s a way that so very few find. It’s all because the majority see themselves as so much more wonderful than they really are and spurn the love and forgiveness of a God Who is so much greater than they can ever conceive.   But that’s why God has given us the gospel. That’s why He’s given us His precious Word, for “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).  It’s the message that can turn our sinful hearts to the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. It’s the message that can expose our need for such forgiveness as nothing else that exists. 

So, are you reading it? Are you opening the pages of God’s Word? Or are you too busy to bother with the great themes of the Bible, the themes with which the God Who knows what is best for us has filled His perfect and eternal Word.