The creation of man was not just an act of God, there was a substantial purpose, not only to make man in the image of God, but to make him the crown jewel of God's creation. Man was created, and not evolved as some would have you to believe. Man is a personal, rational, and moral being. Man was created with a tripart nature, made up of body, soul, and spirit. The divine intention was and is that man should have fellowship with God in obedience.
Genesis 2:18 states, "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone: I will make him an help meet for him." In doing this, God gave man the ability to have a relationship with the opposite sex and to maintain a fellowship with a sovereign God. Man now would have a relationship, of equally with woman, and a vertical relationship with God. Why was all this important? God created man that he would have that worship experience with Him. That he would serve God in obedience and fellowship. Man cannot worship God without being obedient to God, and the things of God.
Throughout Scripture, we are able to see men of God being called into a relationship with God. In chapter 12 of Genesis, God called a gentile (Abraham) from the land of the Chaldeans and made a covenant with him. A covenant that would be the basis of a nation being established, who was to serve Him and be a light to all the other nations of the world. Not only would this nation be blessed, but other nations of the world would be blessed too. This nation would come from Abram, they were to be a people who served God and influenced those who they came in contact with.
As you survey the Scriptures, you see the call of Moses. Through Moses, God provided the leadership to call a nation from Egypt that would be called His people. Upon their release from captivity, they would experience the salvation of God, in the crossing of the Red Sea, and delivered on eagle wings, into the wilderness.
God told Moses to give these instructions to the people, tell them, "Now if you will obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:5-6). When Moses was called to go to Egypt, it was not just a kind act that God wanted His people released from slavery. No! God wanted a closer relationship with a chosen people. He wanted them to leave Egypt behind them, and He would teach them and guide them into a better understanding of who He is. However, they left Egypt physically, but they did not mentally.
In their wilderness experience, God gave Moses the vision to build a portable tabernacle, a place of worship for His people, a place where gift and sacrifices could be made, and a meeting place for God's people. In Exodus chapter 40, we see the jubilation upon the completion of the tabernacle. This was truly a happy and excited time. Then the people was able to see the approval of the Lord for what the people had done. So when Moses finished the tabernacle, Scripture says, "Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle and the glory of the Lord filled it" (Exodus 40:34). Whenever the cloud lifted and moved, the people journeyed onward, following it. But if the cloud stayed, they stayed until it moved. The cloud rest on the Tabernacle during the daytime, and at night there was fire in the cloud, so that the people could see it. This continued throughout their journey.
As time went by, God called a shepherd boy to lead His people. David was a good king, loved by his people and by God. He was a mighty warrior for his people. But David was not without faults. Yet the Lord told David that he was, "a man after my own heart." David knew the importance of repentance.
If one ventured to read the Psalms, it would become clear that David believed in worship. David wrote extensively about the worship experience. The closer David got to God, the better he was as a man and king. David wanted to build a temple as a permanent place to place the Ark in. His intentions was good, but God would not allow him to do so. David charged Solomon to build a house for the Lord. David said to Solomon, "My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God. But this word of the Lord came to me: 'You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight'" (1 Chronicles 22:6-9).
David did not develop an attitude about the Lord's decision. He began to make plans for the Temple, for Solomon, by getting everything together, so when Solomon would become king, the project would immediately move into operation. David said, "My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lord should be of great magnificence and fame and splendor in the sight of all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for it" (1 Chronicles 22:5).
Solomon was greatly influenced by his father. Solomon understood the presence of the tabernacle, but it was time for a permanent home for the Ark and the Jewish celebrations. So Solomon set in motion what his father David had told him, and the desire of the Lord to do the temple in accordance with the heavenly manifestation.
David believed in prayer and Solomon following after his father also believed in the power of prayer. The building of the temple took about 20 years. When Solomon had finished the temple, and placed the Ark in it, he stood before the altar of the Lord, in front of all the congregation of Israel, and prayed a prayer of dedication for the temple. 2 Chronicles 7:1 states, "When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple." Solomon prayed and interceded to the Lord on the behalf of the people. Solomon wanted God assurance that if they sinned, He would extend His mercy and forgive them. He wanted God to accept their repentance. When Solomon had finished the temple and the royal palace, the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and told him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command locusts to devour the land or if I send a pestilence among my people "(2 Chronicles 7:12-13). Then He gave them a condition whereby they could repent to God and He would act accordingly, God said, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).
God registered His approval of Solomon's dedication of the temple by igniting the altar with fire from heaven. God Himself consecrated the temple as the one and only place for sacrifices. "If my people who are called by my name" is indicative of God's chosen people, the Jews. We can not appropriate this to ourselves today, because the church is God's chosen people and our bodies are His temple. But I promise you, if you humble yourself, pray, and seek God's face in all things, that the blessings of the Lord will rain down upon you. Being "humble" is nothing more than taking hold of your heart and submitting to God. "Pray" carries the idea of prostrating oneself before God. "Seek" is to search until you find what you are looking for, by constantly setting your mind toward God. Literally, we are to seek His face.
Many of us today could benefit by turning from "their wicked ways." Seeking to restore oneself again to God's favor. To "turn" is the basic word for repentance. Wickedness is nothing more than the evil of this world. But if people really took this Scripture to heart, "will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways," then God promised that He would hear their prayers. If anyone is willing to let go and let God, I believe God will incline His ear to you, and He will forgive your sins.
The last part of 2 Chronicles 7:14 is not applicable to Christians. If you are a Christian, then you are a heavenly person. At that time the Jews were an earthly people. If they did good God blessed them by the fruits of the earth. God do not promise us houses, land, and money. We have heaven to look forward to. We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ.
We have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and He forgives us of our sins. Heaven is our home, and the New Jerusalem is our goal. We have been delivered from hell. These are our blessings. Nowhere are we promised a land or healing in our land.
The word repentance is rarely mentioned today. In the Book of Mark, Jesus tells his disciples, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:16). It is very clear that salvation is through Jesus, and simply by accepting him and being baptized, you are saved. When Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the good news," the gospel first must be preached to them. But what is this gospel that Jesus is referring to? It is simply the gospel of repentance. Remember the first sermon Jesus preached when He left the wilderness, after being tempted by the devil? "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). Jesus was all about repentance.
In Luke chapter 13, Luke records two events that Jesus said, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 3:3). First there is the temple calamity. We don't know all the details, but Pilate sent some soldiers to slaughter some Galileans, and the slaughter happened while they were offering their sacrifices. It was so gruesome that their blood had mixed with their sacrifices' blood (Luke 13:1). They were doing what the Old Testament Law says. They were worshiping God and they were bringing their offering to the temple. Jesus asked them a question, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?"(verse 2). Then Jesus gives them a response, "No." The Galileans who were slaughtered by Pilate were not greater sinners than others. Then Jesus tells them, "But unless you repent, you too will all perish" (verse 3).
Then Jesus brings up another issue, about the tower in Siloam. He said, "Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them, do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?" (verse 4). Jesus again says, "I tell you, no." Then Jesus tells them again, "But unless you repent, you too will all perish" (verse 5). What Jesus wanted them to know, that if they died without repenting, they will experience the full judgment of God.
What Jesus was teaching then, is still what Jesus is teaches us today, through His holy Word, and that is, all of us are extremely sinful. There are no innocent human beings. We "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). "There is none righteous, no not one" (Romans 3:10). Everyday that God allows us wake up in the morning, we are given another chance to repent. God doesn't desire any one to perish, He is slow to anger, and He keeps given us another chance to repent.
When Paul was preaching in Athens, Greece, when he was talking about the altar of The Unknown God, he told them, "In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30). The desire of God is for all people to repent. When Peter wrote his letter to the Jewish Christians he told them, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).
Repentance is not an option with God, He commands it. It is not arbitrary, it is absolute. Repentance is absolutely necessary. Sharing the gospel is showing genuine repentance and faith in Jesus.
When was the last time you repented of something and meant it? Repentance is the way we can come clean with God. Repentance is acknowledging I have sinned. God already knows what you have done any way. Repent or perish. It is your chose, so choose.
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