Let me assure you that the Bible points towards a God who hates sin, but loves the sinner who would seek him and repent; a sinner who would humble himself/herself in God's presence and trust in his mercy. He is gracious enough to take you in to his outstretched arms, hug you tight, put a new spirit in you and breathe a new life in to you.
Yesterday night as I was reading through 2 Chronicles, chapter 33, it talked of king Manasseh of Judah. He was the son of king Hezekiah, a very God fearing man. Following Hezekiah's death, Manasseh assumed the throne to the kingdom of Judah at age twelve and reigned for fifty five years. We read that unlike his god fearing father, Manasseh was a very, very wicked king who did pure evil in the sight of God. He was so wicked that he not only worshiped other Gods, he turned the temple of the LORD that his ancestor Solomon had constructed, where God's glory was to reside, into a pagan temple, worshiping anything and everything except the God of Israel and Judah - Jehovah. The Bible says that he did things that were detestable in the sight of God. He sacrificed his own sons in the fire, we read. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He aroused the anger of the LORD.
The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people through his prophet, but he ignored the LORD. Jewish teachings say that Manasseh had prophet Isaiah killed by ordering him to be sawn in half. The man was "evil to his bones" so to speak. God punished him. We read, that the LORD sent the Assyrian armies, who defeated the armies of Judah and captured Manasseh. They put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon. Like an animal! Once proud, powerful king brought to his knees, led away like an animal, in public disgrace and humiliation!
While in his imprisonment, in deep distress, Manasseh sought the LORD his God and cried out humbly to the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed, the LORD listened to him and was moved by his request for help. So the LORD let Manasseh return to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Manasseh had finally realized the LORD alone is God! (2 Chronicles 33:12-13)
A repentant Manasseh set his life straight and cleared out the pagan shrines from the temple of God and encouraged his people to return to God. But the damage of a long ungodly reign, fifty five years, had already done the damage to his kingdom, set the people in their sinful ways. Manasseh found it hard to completely clean out the pagan gods from his people's lives, but Manasseh found God's mercy.
If a totally wicked, evil man such as Manasseh found mercy and God was moved when he cried out to him in his distress, we should take courage that Jehovah is a merciful God who loves his creation, men and women, created in his own image. No matter what depths of sin we are in, it is not all lost if we seek his mercy. After all, his son Jesus Christ bore the brunt of the punishment for our sins and through his sacrifice every single human being, the good, the bad and the ugly lives have pardon and a promise for a new life.
Come to Christ, ask God for forgiveness no matter what your sin, have faith that he will forgive, pray for him to remove the guilt for Christ has borne it for you and I, and you will find a new life as king Manasseh did. The damage of our actions as in Manasseh's case may have been done, but God can set our life straight and through it the damage undone.
In the new testament book of Luke, chapter 15, verses 4-7, we read the parable of the lost sheep that Jesus said.
If you had one hundred sheep, and one of them strayed away and was lost in the wilderness, wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine others to go and search for the lost one until you found it? And then you would joyfully carry it home on your shoulders. When you arrived, you would call together your friends and neighbors to rejoice with you because your lost sheep was found. In the same way, heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away.Our past can't be rewritten, but we certainly can do something about our present and set the course for the future. Would you accept Christ as your savior? Heaven will rejoice when you come to Christ and put your life into his hands. He is passionate about his relationship with you. God loves you!
