“Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”

        Ezekiel 18:30b-32

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

        2 Peter 3:9

In part one, we have already seen that God desired to give a land to the people of Israel. Yet the people would not go in because of unbelief. We have seen that God was longing to be gracious to the people of Israel during the days of Isaiah but, again, the people were chasing after idols instead of serving the living God. We also saw Jesus, during His earthly ministry, desire to gather up the people of Jerusalem and to be their God, yet again, the people were unwilling. Jesus, when revisiting His hometown, could not do many miracles there because of the unbelief of the people. And of course, we know that God desires that all mankind be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. But this good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ has to be received (Hebrews 4:1-2). So what do all of these passages of scripture tell us? That there is a stark difference between what God desires and the outcome, due to unbelief. 

Going to Ezekiel 18, we will see the same thing. God is calling on the people to “repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not become a stumbling block for you.” This same call to live for Christ is found in the New Testament as well. Consider these words from Hebrews:

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus… 

        Hebrews 12:1-2a

Old or New…we see the same call to repentance. “Repent and turn away (from sin),“lay aside every encumbrance,” and “(lay aside) the sin which so easily entangles us.” This is what God’s desire is for you and me. And being obedient to this instruction is the only way that we can begin to live the abundant life that Christ died that we might receive. “Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed…” is the battle cry in Ezekiel 18. And why does God desire for us to make this life-giving choice? Consider His reasoning: “For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.” God takes no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies. It’s not His nature to desire that yet we are given the choice.This is why He says, “Repent and live.” 

This is consistent with everything that we have already seen through Old Testament history and in the Gospels in the New Testament. Consider Peter’s remarks: “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God is patient with us. God is not wishing that anyone should perish. God desires for all to come to repentance (compare to Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 2:4). This is what the good news is all about! 

Let’s consider how this looks in a very well known passage from John 3:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

        John 3:16-18

Who is God’s love directed toward? Answer: The whole world (1 John 2:2). For whom did Christ die? Answer: For whoever will believe (surrendering their lives to Christ). Why did God send His Son into the world? Answer: So that the world (the entire created order) might be saved through Him. What happens to those who belong to Christ? Answer: They are no longer condemned or judged by God (Romans 8:1). What happens to those outside of Christ, who have not believed? Answer: They stand condemned and judged already. Why is this the outcome? Answer: Because the have not believed. 

Again, this is completely consistent with everything that we have seen in the Old and New Testaments. God’s desire for humanity and the choices that humanity makes are not always the same. And what is the key to understanding this? That God’s character and nature are consistent. He desires for us to come to repentance and salvation but He does not force that on anyone. Love always requires a response. God responded to us when He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16, Romans 5:8). But we have to respond to His offer of salvation and receive it as a free gift of His grace (Romans 6:23). So let’s review!

God’s Desire:

The Lord longs to be gracious to you

He waits on high to have compassion on you 

The Lord is a God of justice (Isaiah 30:18)

God desires that all of mankind be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth 

(1 Timothy 2:4)

Jesus wanted to gather the people of Jerusalem to Himself (Matthew 23:37)

Jesus desired to meet the needs of the people in His hometown (Matthew 13:58)

Jesus wondered (was amazed) at their unbelief (Mark 6:6)

God desired to give the people of Israel the land in which He had promised 

      (Numbers 13-14)

God does not take pleasure in the death of anyone

God pleads with the people to “repent and live.” (Ezekiel 18:30b-32)

God is patient with us (Romans 2:4)

God doesn’t desire that any perish

God desires for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)

God gave His Son so that “the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17)

Our Response:

Unbelief kept the people of Israel from enjoying God’s best (Hebrews 3:16-19, Jude 1:5)

Unbelief kept Jesus from performing many miracles in His hometown (Matthew 13:58)

Unbelief keeps us from receiving the salvation and redemption provided us through Christ (John 3:18)

Unbelief stifles our pray life (Mark 11:24, James 1:5-8)

Unbelief keeps us from seeing the power of God at work in our lives (Matthew 17:20)

But…

How blessed are all those who long for Him! (Isaiah 30:18)