Saturday, May 7, 2011

Who Is “I”?


Ezekiel 36:22-28:
Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

My intention in reading this passage the other day was to use it in our devotional prior to our baseball games. As usual, in my study (and arrogance) to simplify and to share with a group of 6-10 year olds, several new things were revealed to me:
  • God acts on behalf of His holy name and in accordance to His purposes.
  • God acts in spite of our sinful nature, the antithesis of His holiness.
  • God gathers us, seeks us, woos us.
  • In 7 verses, “I” the Lord God is used 13 times. How much clearer did it have to be for me to see that He is in control, sovereign above all? I can do nothing to earn my salvation, to rescue and reconcile myself to Him. There is nothing in me apart from Him that would choose to seek Him.
  • In those same 7 verses, “my” is used at least 7 times referring to His holy name, holiness, Spirit, statutes and rules. All these references quickly turned my mind to His power, His grace, His mercy.
  • When left to my own devices, I profane His name, I am unclean, I possess a heart of stone resistant to His holiness, statues, rules, power and grace.
  • He gives me a heart of flesh --- again I have not earned it --- and puts His Spirit in me to enable me to obey.