BIG

"... and see in God, extreme longsuffering."

BY THE TIME of Noah, he alone was righteous. His wife and sons and his son’s wives were also rescued, but Noah was a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5). What then of God’s care for those who weren’t righteous? The world was violent, chamas (Genesis 6:11). This is being at a state that they cared for nothing else. Devils and unclean spirits are violent. They have no righteousness in them.

“And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;” (2 Peter 2:5)

Righteousness is defined in many ways. I prefer to say “sacred honor” and “holiness.” It is a state of forgiveness that erases all of someone’s wrongdoing and places them at Jesus’ side. Not at His feet, but upright and filled with honor. There is no honor among fools (Proverbs 20:1) nor any changing their way of thinking. Given their way to its extreme, they would rather die in foolishness than be saved. Such is selfish pride. God is love, and He loves all men and all things He has created; but when violence became acceptable to such an extreme that the entire earth is corrupted, then He repented that He’d made man on the earth and was grieved by it (Genesis 6:6-7).

We don’t understand this, and one blog post won’t fix our misunderstanding except in that we must not make God’s thinking our human thinking. Because for God to repent does not mean He made a wrong decision, nor does it imply sin. In fact, in Romans 1:23, it calls Him the “uncorruptible God.” James 1:13 says He is not tempted by evil. This includes all He is, all He’s chosen to do, and any justice He’s meted out. He is holy, and holiness is being forever without sin. God’s repenting is sorrow and must be understood this way.

See in Noah, that he did not bow to the ways of men around him, a most incredible thing, and see in God, extreme longsuffering, that He waited until there was no hope of rescue but the flood. And see in the aftermath of the flood, that the world He made blossomed and grew again. After so many days underwater, those things which grew here should have been long dead. Except Noah sent out a dove which returned with an olive branch. So great was God’s Life.

“And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.” (Genesis 8:11)

So great was His mercy. For the plan He’d set in motion before the founding of the earth, the birth of our Savior in a stable in Bethlehem, would be fulfilled. For the sake of His honor, He’d save what He’d created and make of men, holiness.

But of those souls lost in the flood and those lost after it, how are we to settle this? First, we must know hell is not Satan’s. Not his throne, not his kingdom, not a place of his rejoicing, not a place where he torments men. There are no devilish creatures dancing in hatred there. Instead, there are many bound, unable to move (1 Peter 3:19). I am not here to strike fear but to give you peace because the end of all things the Father does is peace. His heart for mankind, for the earth, is seen in the Scriptures. He SO LOVED the world. John 3:16. He came to earth in the form of a man, as Jesus, not to condemn the world but to SAVE it. John 3:17. Romans 8 tells us He will remake all of creation as well. He is good and doeth good. Psalms 119:68. So between these Truths and what little we know of hell, there is a place we must lay our lack of knowledge to rest. We must trust Him.

We must know the Father is HUGE. He’s BIG in gentleness, BIG in understanding, BIG not just in knowledge but His care for us that it encompasses. We’re forever shrinking Him, which simply cannot be done. He has no regrets to His actions, His choices, in any manner. He grieves (repents of) our losses, and at the same time, makes of them something beautiful.

“How can this be, Suzanne? Given the history of the world and some of its most horrible things.”

A big question laid in the hand of the Father, who will turn them into incense. We are the ones mocking. We shake our heads at this, unable to see it. But what does the end of John’s Revelation say? It promises the healing of the nations and no more curse.

"And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 22:1-5)

When God steps in, there is peace, the cessation of wars and the end of conflicts, the establishing of right and good and the defeat of wrong. Jesus did a complete work. It is said “He paid our debt,” but our debt was not monetary, nor was it owed to Satan. God did not die to pay Satan anything. Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44), he has no truth in him. When he tempted Jesus in the wilderness, everything he said was a lie. He had no glory to give him, and if he’d had any, he wouldn’t have given it away. Jesus, on the other hand, knew who He was, “It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God (Luke 4:12).” He is the Lord thy God.

The debt owed is stated in Psalm 23:3. “He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.” FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE. The New English Translation (NET) says it this way: “He leads me down the right paths for the sake of his reputation.” All that God does – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is in INTEGRITY and HOLINESS. Moses pleaded with God for Israel saying, “You must forgive them because what will people say (Exodus 32:12)?” Ezekiel prophesied over the nation, “You will not pollute my holy name any more with your idols (Ezekiel 20:39).” Though they pleaded to be left in their sin, He refused them the right. He would show mercy. What we think is destruction, God throwing lightning bolts, is, instead, Truth and Grace.

I sat on the front porch, watching the birds fly in and out of the feeders, and the Father said, “That one has many offspring.” Overwhelmed He would share that with me, I wept, unable to stop weeping. There is His Word to all these things. “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father (Matthew 10:28-29).” What He will do with the spirits of men who have fallen asleep in sin is far more beautiful and worthy than we have any idea. Lay it in His hand and place yours there. Trust Him in everything because He loves you and has glorious things ahead.

“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Romans 8:19-21)

“All creation longs for freedom from its slavery to decay and to experience with us the wonderful freedom coming to God’s children.” (Romans 8:21, TPT)

Photo by Arvydas Baltinas on Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com