God is faithful and good. God is sovereign. God is our redeemer.
What is the rescue story?
Act four: Rescue, Week 1
Before we start this week's summary, remember: God, the author and the main character of His story, created this world and everything in it for the purpose of His glory. He lovingly created us to be in relationship with Him, but we rebelled and sin separated us from Him. Placing idols above God, we grieved our Creator and King. Thankfully, despite our constant rebellion, our faithful and good God never gave up on us. He always had a sovereign plan to rescue His people back to Himself. But how? What would it be?
After 12 weeks in Act Three: Rebellion, we are joyfully turning the page in this story and reading about the Rescue. If in the past twelve weeks our hearts have softened with conviction and grown in our desire to obey, we will gaze at the pages of this part of God's story with fresh faith and forgiveness. God is so very good to us and He is sovereign over everything. So, turn the page with me and look close at our Redeemer and His beautiful plan to restore our relationship with Him.
Have you looked outside lately? In the blink of an eye, spring sprung up on us, catching me by surprise! When I look at the flower beds, I am beginning to see weeds and am reminded of the time I spent weeding the beds last year. It was painful, tiring work; it took a lot of patience, a lot of strength, and plenty of endurance. But I, the gardener, knew the plan, the beauty to come, the reward that would spring up and bloom. But the hard, cold ground did not know this plan. Every day, I would stab a shovel into it, pull at it, stir it up, and turn it over. Some days, I would remove tiny weeds, and other days I would find a deep root that needed to be extracted. If the dirt had a voice, it would have grumbled, saying, "This is not fair, it's too painful and hard, just stop! Stop all the tilling, raking and digging, and exposing roots." Can you hear the soil scream? Is the soil of your heart joining in that chorus?
What is the rescue story? It's the story of God's kindness that leads to repentance and a restored relationship with Him. "God's painful work of turning over the soil of your heart is a kindness, and it's meant to lead you to repentance. But because of the hard and impenitent soil of your heart, you are storing up weeds of wrath for yourself" (Romans 2:4-5 paraphrased by me).
At the end of Act Three: Rebellion, we caught a glimpse of the prophet Jonah's heart, as he grumbled against the kindness of God toward the Ninevites. Interestingly, the book of Jonah doesn't resolve the story, but stops there as he grumbles. This week, at the beginning of Act Four: Rescue, we see a very similar circumstance. In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus tells a parable about a father and his two sons. The younger son was a lot like the Ninevites. When the father showed compassion and kindness to him, the son repented, saying, "I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son," and the father celebrated his repentance with a huge party, welcoming him back into the family. But the older son was angry about his father's kindness. And just like Jonah, we are left wondering how the story ends. What is the status of his heart soil after his final conversation with his father?
The hearts of the older son and Jonah are like the grumbling ground and screaming soil that does not understand God's kindness. It is because Father God is faithful and kind that we who were once dead are now alive; the Scripture says that "the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). God has saved us from our sinful selves, given us a free gift of salvation, and poured out His lovingkindness on us. It is this kindness that leads us to repentance. We who are in Christ now have a choice. When life is unfair and not what we expected, when our hearts grow hard and the soil dry, when the weeds of sin begin to grow, what will we choose? Will we complain and cry, "Look, all these years I have served you and never disobeyed a commandment of yours. Yet you never gave me even [a small acknowledgement]" (Luke 15:29)? Will we remain selfish, bitter, and angry, looking around saying, "What about me?" OR will we acknowledge the kindness of our Savior, knowing that, in the digging and the raking of our hearts, though painful and pokey, "His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning" (Psalm 30:5). Will we allow God's loving compassion and kindness lead us to repentance, or will we sit and grumble in stubborn rebellion?
God, our Master Gardener, the one who knows the plan from Garden to Garden, knows the beauty to come. A great reward is offered to you: the gift of eternal life in Jesus. With Christ alone, eternal life will spring up and bloom.
❤️ Meghan
Up next: Act four, Week 2 — What Have we been rescued from?
Don't forget to grab the Act 4: Rescue card from the women's board in the hallway.
