2 Samuel 14:14 (NIV) Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.

There is no one like our God...no one! He withholds the punishment that we deserve (that’s mercy) to lavish unmerited favor (that’s grace) on us that we don’t deserve. When we repent of our sins and turn our hearts to Him, He meets us where we are and showers us with His love. Before we were restored to a relationship with our Heavenly Father through the atonement that Jesus made on the cross for us, we were banished from His presence because of our sins. Even the people of Israel, who were God’s chosen people, couldn’t come into His presence. Only the high priest was allowed to go into the Holy of Holies where the presence of God dwelled to make atonement for the people through the blood of a goat, and that only once a year. The people were kept from His presence because they would never survive in the presence of God in their fallen nature. But just as the scripture above states, God devised a way to “unbanish” them and us. As a matter of fact, the plan to save us and to bring us back into fellowship with Him was devised the moment Adam and Eve fell into sin by giving in to the serpent’s temptation. The plan was already in place.

How highly blessed we are that our Creator does not desire our death, even though we rebelled and resisted Him. Just looking at the people that He rescued from exile will give you an idea about how lost and sinful we were before Jesus rescued us. It wasn’t even three months after the Lord liberated His people from slavery in Egypt that they fell into vile sin. While Moses was up on the mountain receiving the commandments of God, the people enticed Aaron, the brother of Moses and the first priest of the people, to make a golden calf out of their jewelry. The worship of this detestable idol included drunkenness and sexual immorality (orgies). They deserved to be destroyed, but God devised a way to spare them and to not totally destroy them.

Before any one of us judges the exiles, we need to look at ourselves first. How many of us have messed up royally and sinned after receiving forgiveness for all of our sins through Christ Jesus? How many of us have been completely faithful since receiving Jesus into our hearts? How many of us have wandered far away from the path of righteousness even after we were saved? We all stand guilty, yet guiltless because God devised a way. We found out that He didn’t just devise a plan for our salvation, but that He also devised a plan to rescue us and woo us back to Him when we have wandered off. The parable about the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) tells the story of redemption and restoration from a merciful God that has no equal. God finds a way for us not to remain banished from Him. He does so over and over. Anyone who misses out on this great salvation has no excuse as our gracious Savior has done everything in His power for us not to be eternally lost and banished from His presence. It takes someone totally resisting and willfully refusing God’s rescue plan to wind up in utter darkness after they die. Let’s stay in the safety of that rescue plan and stay on the path that will lead to us being with Jesus forever and ever for all eternity. He found a way for us! Praise His name!

Pastor Joey Vazquez