In the first two articles in this four-part series, we learned about “God’s Simple Plan for a Perfect World” and “The Unforgivable Sin”; in this article we will learn about “God’s Simple Restoration Plan”, or the process of Repentance.
Repentance is the key to reconciliation with God and each other.
Problem, Plan and Promise.
When Solomon consecrated the first temple in Jerusalem, God appeared to him and reminded him that, if Israel went astray in the future and bad things happened, there was a simple way for the people to gain His forgiveness and healing; see 2 Chronicles 7:13-14.
Problem.
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people ...
Plan.
... if my people who are called by my name, humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, ...
Promise.
... then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
God’s message to Solomon was a reminder because the nation of Israel had already experienced many cycles of “apostasy, repentance and restoration” during the previous four hundred years when Israel was lead by judges, from Moses to Samuel. Furthermore, his father David, had been an excellent role-model for repentance; a ‘repeat offender’ and a ‘master of repentance’!
Four Simple Steps of Repentance.
1. Humble themselves.
Acknowledge the majesty and authority of God. Only God is worthy of our worship; the one and only ‘Creator of Everything’, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords; there is no higher authority.
“Turn to me and be saved for I am God, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:22)
2. Pray to God.
Confess our sins by acknowledging that we have disobeyed God’s divine Law. Every sin is, first and foremost, a breach of God’s divine Law of Love; a sin against God, deserving of immediate expulsion from His presence, spiritual death.
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; may you be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. (Psalms 51:4)
3. Seek God’s Face.
Having come to our senses and confessed our sins, we must seek to understand God’s Law; an expression of our newfound willingness to obey God’s divine authority.
Choose life so that you and your offspring may live; loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days. (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)
4. Turn from their wicked ways.
Repent! Stop thinking that ‘you know best’ (i.e. doing what seems right in your own eyes) and start obeying God’s divine Law. Jesus said that God’s divine Law could be summed up in the two greatest commandments of the Law of Moses;
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind”
“Love your neighbour as yourself”
That’s “God’s Simple Formula for a Perfect World”, in a nutshell.
Four simple steps. Could it be any simpler?
God’s Promise to Forgive and to Heal.
God is longing for us to be reconciled to Him. In fact, the only impediment to God’s forgiveness is our rebellious nature; our self-righteousness and self-justification, always seeking to blame others for our iniquity and suffering.
But, as soon as we humble ourselves and pray, and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways, God is ready and willing to forgive and to heal; more quickly than we can ever imagine!
A Cloak of Repentance and Robes of Righteousness.
The only way a sinner can approach the holy presence of God is under a ‘Cloak of Repentance’; repentance acting like an invisible heat shield in the fiery furnace of God’s holiness.
Get the picture!
Here is a formerly rebellious, now repentant sinner, approaching God’s throne, the King of Kings, the one and only 'Creator of Everything'. Here he lies prostrate upon the floor at God’s feet, covered from head to toe by a ‘Cloak of Repentance’; undeserving they beg for God’s forgiveness.
Before this repentant sinner can finish their ‘Prayer of Repentance’, God lifts them to their feet and clothes them with His ‘Robes of Righteousness’, he place the family signet ring upon their finger and shoes upon their feet. They are restored, healed, forgiven.
Clothed in their God-given 'Robes of Righteousness', they may now approach the throne of God’s grace with confidence, as a child of God; approaching the King of Kings, as Father too.
There are only two ways a human being can exist in God’s holy presence; under a ‘Cloak of Repentance’ or clothed in God-given ‘Robes of Righteousness’.
There is no other way.
In the fourth and final article of this series we will see the full gospel, demonstrated in a single parable, the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
