Hello beloved child of God, I hope you’re fine by God’s grace.
As for me I’m fine by God’s grace.
Today, we are going to talk about what it looks like to turn back to God after having sinned against Him.
In Deuteronomy 29, the Old Covenant (The Law) is reminded to the Israelites and they are being reminded of the fact that if they sin against God they will be punished.
Deuteronomy 29:19-28 NIV
When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,” they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. The Lord will never be willing to forgive them; his wrath and zeal will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the Lord will blot out their names from under heaven. The Lord will single them out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it. The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger. All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?” And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord , the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. Therefore the Lord ’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book. In furious anger and in great wrath the Lord uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”
In Deuteronomy 30 however, God makes promises to them on the good things He will do for them once they would have repented.
Deuteronomy 30:1-10 NIV
When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where H e scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. You will again obey the Lord and follow all His commands I am giving you today. Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as He delighted in your ancestors, if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
There’s something in this text which seems too good to be true but which is actually true.
He says that once they would have repented, He would make them even more prosperous than their ancestors, i.e. more prosperous than the state in which they were before they rebelled against Him.
I don’t know if you feel the same way, but in general when I’ve done something wrong, I expect that the person against whom I did it will never treat me the same again, and that even if they forgive me, they’ll treat me less well than before what I did, because what I did had a negative impact on our relationship forever.
That’s also how I tend to imagine it to be with God. I don’t know if you usually feel the same, but I tend to be like, I confess my sins to God but I don’t expect Him to restore me at the same level as I was before. I expect Him to take me back (not because He really wants to but because He promised in His Word to forgive) and to place me at a lower position (demote) than I was before I sinned against Him.
I feel like, at least I should be happy that He took me back, so I want to make myself as small as possible and I don’t expect Him to bless me anymore, or at least I don’t expect Him to bless me as much as He would have done if I hadn’t committed that sin.
I think we usually see God that way. We see Him like One who forgives us but who doesn’t restore us to the same level. We feel like that mistake, that sin, that addiction, that lie, that thing we did has brought an end to our ministry, to our relationship with God, to what God could do through us forever. We feel like, even though we’ve confessed and repented, things can never be as good as they were before.
But the story of the Prodigal son completely breaks this false belief, because in that story, Jesus describes to us how our Father God is.
Luke 15:11-24 NIV
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
Notice that the prodigal son felt just like us, (or just like me perhaps). He didn’t expect his dad to treat him again as his son. He expected to be in a lower and smaller position because he didn’t deserve to be forgiven. He expected to be demoted from son to servant. So he knew that he was going back to his father not as a son but as a servant. He expected the very least. He was ready for his punishment. He already expected to be treated as a servant.
Luke 15:18-19 NIV
I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’
But his father didn’t take him lower than what he was before, he instead raised him up.
- He threw his arms around him
- He kissed him
- He made him dressed with the best robe
- He offered him a ring
- He offered him new shoes
- He made the fattened calf killed for him
- He threw a party for him
This was unexpected. The father didn’t demote him because of his sin, he instead brought him higher. He did something which it seems he didn’t usually do (threw a party) for him, and even offered new clothes and shoes to him and offered him a new ring (new stuff which he didn’t have before sinning against his dad).
His elder brother thought it was so abnormal. Just like at times our consciences consider it so abnormal that after all what we did, when we come back to GOD, instead of punishing us for our sins, He rewards us for coming back to Him.
Luke 15:25-32 NIV
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”
By the way, let’s talk a little bit about restoration. Did you know that in Hebrew, the word restoration doesn’t mean what it means in English ? In English language, restoration means you are brought back to the original state.
But in Hebrew (original language of the Bible) restoration means brought to a better state than the original state.
This is what we see in the story of the prodigal son, story which actually describes God’s nature.
When you confess your sins to Him and come back to Him, He doesn’t punish you, instead, He blesses you even more than before you had sinned against Him. He brings you to a greater state than the original one.
We usually think that when we’ll turn back to God, our ministry, our life, our family, our relationships won’t be as great as before because God would have kept a grudge against us and would keep reminding it to us by punishing us. We couldn’t be so far from the truth. Notice that after his confession, the father of the prodigal son didn’t even mention his sin to him again ,he just restored him (brought him to an improved state).
You think God can’t bless you anymore because you messed up, He’s showing you through Deuteronomy 30 and the story of the Prodigal son that He will bless you even more than before you messed up.
But why does God do that?
Why does He not remind us our confessed sins everyday and punish us till we suffer more and more ?
I think it’s because of three reasons
1. He knows how much we’ve already suffered because of them, so He won’t afflict us further
Isaiah 42:3 NIV
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. In faithfulness He will bring forth justice;
2. He wants to show us that indeed He likes it when we turn back to Him, so He rewards our repentance, our choice of turning back to Him
3. Christ Jesus has already paid the punishment for all our sins. God will not punish us anymore for our sins because Jesus Christ has already been punished for them. This is valid for whoever has received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. God will not punish you for sins you’ve confessed and repented of because Jesus Christ was already punished for you.
Isaiah 53:4-6 NIV
Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Conclusion
You may have failed as a friend, as a spouse, as a parent, as a leader, as a child, as a pastor, you may have failed where God called you to serve Him but God wants you back. If you confess your sins, not only will He forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness, but He will also not punish you for those sins. He will not demote you, instead He will raise you up and restore you to a state even greater than before you fell. Human beings may demote you for your faults but God will never demote you. Your life is not over. You are still and you will always be God’s son (whether you’re male or female).
Prayer
Father Lord God Almighty, thank You for reassuring me today of the fact that once I have repented and confessed my sins to You, You forgive me, cleanse me from all unrighteousness, and you don’t punish me for those sins. Thank You Lord for still wanting me. Lord please despite the times I have failed You, I still want to serve You and I still want to be Your child. Please Lord help me serve You and walk in Your ways, in Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.
It’s Now Your Turn
Do you have doubts about God’s desire to restore you? Do you need prayer?
Let us know in the comments section.
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Invitation
Click here if you’re looking for a church. I recommend Elevation Church to you. A wonderful Christ-centered Church in which you aren’t limited by your location and in which you can see what God can do through you. We’re in a series right now called ” Maybe:God ” on discerning God’s Will.
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Thank you for reading
God bless you
Victoria Eyog
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