by The Heart of God
Let’s go back to Mr Smith in the doctor’s office. Suppose that, instead of angrily refusing the doctor’s diagnosis and warning, and the offer of immediate help, he believed what the doctor said. What a realisation. What a shock to the system it was to discover I was a sinner, at a distance from God, and sure to die and go to hell! I would feel like Mr Smith feels in this scenario – apprehensive, anxious, fearful, suddenly presented with an imminent and awful demise. This could only be compounded when I’m told, like Mr Smith, that there is nothing that I can do to rectify it – no amount of works or workouts can undo what has been done. Sin has choked up my heart, restricted the flow of life, ensured that death is inevitable and swift. But then, in the very next moment, the doctor says that there is an immediate solution – and not only that, but it’s free! The cost has been covered; provision has been made. Someone, the doctor went on to explain, has donated their own heart, a healthy, flawless heart. He laid down his life voluntarily in order to save others.
Of course, that analogy is imperfect. Jesus did not give His heart to replace our own, but He did shed His blood for us. And there is life in the blood. And because there is life in the blood “the blood… maketh atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11). Perhaps we could say that the heart of God is made known in the blood of Jesus. At the cross the heart of God was made known in all its love and holiness, and the heart of man was exposed in all its hatred and corruption. In hatred, a soldier pierced the side of a dead Christ, and “immediately there came out blood and water” (italics mine). The words of the hymn spring to mind:
“Thy love, by man so sorely tried,
Proved stronger than the grave;
Though man in hatred pierced Thy side,
Thy blood love’s answer gave”
‘O Lord, when we the path retrace’ – J.G. Deck
An answer given, so immediately, so unreservedly.
The question for the sinner is, How do I answer that answer? God has declared His heart to me in the most definite way imaginable. How do I avail myself of the full and free salvation He has provided? The answer lies with the heart. In Acts 11:18, the disciples at Jerusalem glorify God that He has granted to the Gentiles also “repentance to life”. What an attractive phrase that is. Here it is not “repentance from sin”, although it is that. The goal is in view here, rather than what is left behind. Repentance is a change of heart. A sin-sick heart, one whose moral arteries are choked, can change – through the operation of the Spirit of God, of course. Later in the Acts, Paul is found speaking about “repentance towards God” (Acts 20:21). Again, a positive change is in view, with a great Object. The heart has a new occupant.
However, we have only considered one side of this transformation. We must repent, yes, but we must also believe: “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from among the dead, thou shalt be saved” (italics mine). We must believe in risen Christ. A dead Christ is no help to us. As Paul puts it, “if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). God has drawn us to His Son, a living Man: “I drew them with bands of a man, with cords of love; and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I gently caused them to eat” (Hosea 11:4). Christianity is first and foremost a relationship, and secondarily a religion.
What then, are the results of a heart which has been broken through repentance, and bound up by the loving hand of the Saviour Who is now enthroned within it? We have seen the results of a corrupted heart, one tainted and blackened by sin. We see them contrasted in Luke 6:45: “The good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forth good; and the wicked man out of the wicked, brings forth what is wicked: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” What is abundantly in the heart comes out in expression. A heart in which Christ is abundantly, in which the word of the Christ dwells richly (Colossians 3:16) produces good treasure. Paul writes to Timothy of “love out of a pure heart” (1 Timothy 1:5), the product of a heart which in submission to God.
The heart and the life-dispersing blood which it circulates around the body are marvels of divine design. As the psalmist could say to his God, “I will praise thee, for I am fearfully, wonderfully made. Marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” (Psalm 139:14) Marvellous are thy works. The creatorial works of God are amazing in the true sense of the word – beyond the scope of human comprehension in their vastness and intricacy. But, how much greater than these is the work of God in new creation: “if any one be in Christ, there is a new creation.” Dead hearts have been brought to life, and where once sin caused all men to fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), there now exists a myriad of the redeemed who bring glory to God.
Dear friend, are you among them?