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Friday 4 May 2012

Isaiah 54:5-8 - Fruit of salvation (2)

The cross brings an end to rejection by God. We need to face up to the truth of this, sin meant we were rejected by God. In Genesis 3 we read that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden and death came into their lives. Paul tells us that we were enemies of God and "by nature, objects of wrath". Sin meant we were subject to God's judgement. Israel had experienced much of this in the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile. All of us have suffered the results of sin in our own lives.
This rejection was real, but the "calling back" is even more real.  It tells us that God calls us back with deep compassion, it tells us that He will have compassion on us with everlasting kindness, it tells us that He is our husband.
There are two key elements to the work of the cross, and both are equally important. One is the judicial/legal nature of the work of the cross, the other is the emotional/heart side. The cross deals with the legal problem of sin. In 1 John it says that God is "just and forgives us". Our debt has been paid on the cross. Satan can accuse us all he likes, but God just looks at the cross and says our sin has already been dealt with, the penalty is paid in full.
But the cross is also an expression of the heart of God. God loves us, and it says in John 3:16, "God so loved the world ..." God's heart is for us.
Think of adoption (and the Bible refers to us as being adopted by God). For adoption to work it needs two things. The legal side has to be done properly, and the new parents have to love the child. Both aspects are needed for adoption to work. So it is with the cross. 

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