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Dr. Buzzell concludes this lesson by saying that if we fail, God wants us to come back to Him. Why is this significant to us today?
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We have failed as people. We all have sinned. I’m not talking about the sin of Adam and Eve that cursed the rest of humanity, I’m talking about us as individuals. Not a single person alive can say that they have not committed a sin. We have a lust filled nature that desires more and more. We have that prideful side that says we do not need help to figure something out that we can do it all on our own.
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It is significant because unless we come back to God we are doomed to be stuck in our failure and not able to come out of it. We need God to be able to find our way out and hopefully, not find ourselves there again.
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“What God tells us in the Old Testament is that even though we fail, we serve a gracious God who says, ’Come back to Me and I will forgive you. I will welcome you. I did not create you for hostility, but for love and for a relationship.’” (Dr. Sid Buzzell)
In the Old Testament God is recorded as Creator of all and claims human creation as His children; their Father. God created humans out of love and the powerful desire to be in a parental relationship with them. A relationship built on extravagant, unconditional love. sin entered the world as recorded in Genesis; When the relationship was broken. God disciplined those original beings, forgave them, but never stopped loving them. He pursued them and provided for them calling them back into relationship with him.
Isaiah prophesied over Israel, His chosen nation, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name.” He prophesied during a time of disobedience. God’s folks were rebelling against all He had done for them and all He wanted to do for them. And God did not turn away. He showed mercy. He spoke love over them claiming then as His own.
In this current day of political conflict, racial prejudice, corona virus and all of the consequences that have come out of the pandemic we are running almost parallel to Old Testament times. Brokenness and human failure are still rampant. Famine, illness, homelessness and malice against our neighbors are in the headlines daily. And God still calls us by our names to come back into relationship. Learn of me. We were created out of His great love for us desiring nothing more than to be in relationship with Him. We are forgiven. We are redeemed.
God has called us by name. The choices we make do not alter the plans of our Creator. The sin that is recorded in Genesis 3 that plagued and remained with Israel throughout the Old Testament. And the same sin is present with us now. The good news is what we see when look into the mirror is not what God sees. God sees with His heart and His creative hand. God values us not by circumstances, how others look at us or by our choices. Our value is lovingly determined by our unchanging God of grace through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is as significant today as it was thousands of years ago.
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We will fail, and our salvation is to look to God for His grace and forgiveness.
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This is significant because even tough we already received the spirit we still fall to sin and this is the hope for the lost world.
