“As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?” Ezekiel 33:11
God Wants Sinners to Live
It’s the middle of the night. Loud banging pounds on your front door. The doorbell rings without stopping. Small stones tap against your bedroom window. Then your phone starts ringing and doesn’t stop. The ruckus is anything but welcome. But when you look out the window, you discover your house is on fire, and your neighbor has been desperately trying to wake you up and save your life.
Thank God he did! And wouldn’t you do the same for him? Wouldn’t you do whatever it took to rescue him from the flames?
That is what God is talking about through the prophet Ezekiel. Warning fellow believers about the danger of sin is rarely appreciated at first. But just as a neighbor makes a racket to save someone from a burning house, God sounds the alarm because he loves us.
Through Ezekiel, God made it clear that a warning about sin is not intended to be an unwanted disturbance. It’s a message of life!
God rings our doorbell, pounds on our door, and sends fellow Christians to get our attention. Maybe it is your parents. Maybe a Christian friend. Maybe your pastor. However the warning comes, it comes in love, because God wants sinners to live.
How much does he want that? He chose the death of his own Son over the death of the wicked. Jesus’ death gives you forgiven life. Jesus’ resurrection gives you eternal life. And as surely as Jesus lives, he wants nothing more than for us to be alive with him, forever, in heaven.
That is why God sounds the alarm. Not to knock sinners down, but to lift them up with the gospel. Not to condemn, but to call them to the Savior who forgives.
So, whichever end of the warning you are on, remember God’s purpose. His goal is never your death. His goal is your life!
Prayer:
Sovereign Lord, thank you for turning me from my sin and giving me life in Christ. Amen.
