"...for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God." (Ezekiel 37:23b)
When God says something, He means it and will fulfil it. God says in this verse that HE will be the people's God. I wonder how you feel when you read these words. For me, it excited me tremendously to know that the God of the Universe is willing to come down to me, to where I am, and be a personal God to me.
What do I deserve that He should desire to be my God? What have I done to deserve His love and favour? Nothing. Just a sinful person, who have made many mistakes in the past and never will be perfect enough before His Holy eyes.
Yet, He is willing to save us from all our sinful backsliding, cleanse me from my sin and be MY God. In fact, God has already fulfilled His Word in this verse, both to the Israelites and to us, Gentiles.
Through His begotten Son, Jesus Christ, He has fulfilled His promise of salvation from sin and death on the Cross at Calvary.
But what is next for us then, after receiving Christ as our personal Saviour into our lives?
Apostle John in Revelation 21:1-3 tells us,
" Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. "
God is preparing a new heaven and a new earth - the Holy City. This is going to be the place where God will dwell with His people eternally. You see, God is ever so eager to dwell with us. He was in the time of Moses, now through the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and in the age to come. He is the same God yesterday, today and forevermore!
The Holy City is where the Holy God is, i.e. a place where sin cannot exist. Hence, the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral and those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and liars cannot dwell with God. The warning is stated in Revelation 21:8,
" But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” "
Only "Those who are victorious will inherit all this [the Holy City], and I will be their God and they will be my children."
What a privilege and honor to have the Sovereign God dwell among us, where there is fullness of joy and pleasures forever, where we will be filled and satisfied. Thank you, Abba Father.
Reflections:
Do you desire to be filled by God's presence today?
You can pray and ask God to fill you with more of His love and presence today.
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