Friday, April 01 2011
Ezekiel 18
Verse of the Week: V31 “Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”
1. God Owns All Souls (V1-24)
V4 “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
It is with great pain and grief that God allows the people created in His image to die in hell because they refuse to believe in Him and acknowledge Him as their Creator and the Almighty God. God loves His people but He hates their sins. Every man is accountable to God. The son will not bear the sins of his father, nor the father bear the sins of the son, but every man will bear his own sins and reap the consequences of his sins.
V9 “Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.”
2. God’s Way Is Not Man’s Way (V25-30)
V25 “Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? Are not your ways unequal?”
Many times we accused God for being unfair when we witnessed disasters destroying hundreds or thousands of lives. We may not fully understand the tragedy but let us remember that God never makes mistake and His ways are higher than our ways. What matters most is that we believe in God and obey His commandments. The ultimate consequence of man’s sins is physical death while the ultimate consequence of man’s sin of unbelief in God is spiritual death or eternal separation from God in the fiery pits of hell.
V26 “When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.”
3. God Gives New Hearts (V31-32)
V31 “Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”
Not only God gives new hearts and spirits to all who believe in Him and obey His commandments but He also gives them a place in heaven forever with Him the moment they die. God’s greatest desire is for all souls to believe in Him and obey His commandments and it pains and grieves Him to condemn the wicked souls to hell.
V32 “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.”
Prayer of the Week
Dearest God, please give me a new heart to live for You and You only.
