What condemns us in the sight of God? Is it our many sins, acts of doing wrong? As we look at the world around us, is it the lying, cheating, violence, or rampant sexuality that gets us in trouble? These behaviors, and behaviors like them (Galatians 5:19-21), do result in negative and destructive consequences, but are they the reason God condemns us? I want you to understand that our disposition toward sin involves more than the commission of individual sins.

Look at Satan. Before he became Satan, God’s primary adversary, he was the greatest of God’s created creatures. His name was Lucifer, which means bright and shining Morning Star. He had honor and glory beyond any other created being. But there was one thing he did not have. He did not have the glory that was reserved only for God. Instead of being satisfied with the righteous order of things, he attempted to set himself on equal ground with God Himself. “How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High’” (Isaiah 14:12-14). Satan is our example of what God hates about sin.

Satan opposed God’s created order, God’s will. God is Who He is! Unlike any other! He is the great “I Am”. When Moses asked God for His name, the Lord said, “I Am, the One Who always is.” Lucifer became Satan when he replaced the great I Am with himself. He became his own “I am”. He usurped God’s right to his heart. He became his own authority.

We do the same thing. We are little “I-am’s” who have made deliberate and emphatic declarations of independence from God. This involves more than committing individual sins; it involves siding with Satan against God’s holy right to rule His universe, to rule our lives. That is what the sin nature is all about. We are born little, screaming “I am’s”. But God comes to us and says, “Put yourself in proper perspective. How can you, the puny ‘I am’ that you are, think yourself to be above the great ‘I AM’? Come and sit under My umbrella of strength and mercy. I have paid the penalty for your rebellion. Come to Me and I will give you rest. Come to Me and I will restore our relationship.”

Restoration involves three steps, or phases—reconciliation, regeneration, and realignment. Reconciliation means becoming friends again. Regeneration involves establishing a heartbeat in our relationship with Him. Realignment involves ordering our lives around Him as our personal cornerstone. Isaiah 8, 26, and 28 help us to understand these three phases of restoration.

Reconciliation involves a change of attitude toward God. An attitude change from independence and self-sufficiency, and even opposition, to an attachment based on affection and friendship. Jesus told His disciples in John 15 that they were His friends. “You are my friends if you obey me. I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn’t confide in his servants. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.” Imagine, the Son of God, who provoked the angels in Isaiah 6 to cover their eyes because of His glory calls His disciples “friends”. A secular king does not share much information or time with his subjects. To walk into the presence of a king in Esther’s day without an invitation could get one killed (Esther 4:11).

Notice, Jesus said a criteria of friendship is a certain openness that is willing to share personal information with each other, information that centers on the intentions and behaviors closest to their hearts. A reading of Isaiah 8 finds verses 11-14, a passage about trusting God, surrounded by verses where God is revealing future events that those who have a heart toward Him might learn to trust Him despite the uncertainty. God cares about His people. He wants their hearts to be calm and peaceful so He gives them something to trust Him for, a place where their hearts and minds can rest. The Lord is a strong rock worthy of our trust! “Do not think like everyone else does. Do not be afraid that some plan conceived behind closed doors will be the end of you. Do not fear anything except the Lord Almighty. He alone is the Holy One. If you fear him, you need fear nothing else. He will keep you safe (Isaiah 8:11-14a).”

Regeneration is being made alive to God. Our spiritual heart starts beating again. Isaiah 26:8 describes a heart that is alive toward God: “Lord, we love to obey your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name.” He is the eternal Rock (v. 4) worthy of our trust and affection. He will not let us down. The proud will be humbled but the righteous will have their paths made smooth and straight (v. 7). Those who are spiritually alive receive (vs. 12, 19) the kindness of God and turn it into peace, joy, and righteousness. The wicked trample it and multiple their unrighteousness. “Your kindness to the wicked does not make them do good. They keep doing wrong and take no notice of the Lord’s majesty (v. 10).” The spiritually alive value God’s mercy and kindness and do not habitually abuse it, as the wicked do.

Realignment involves aligning our hearts and lives around God. Merrill Unger helps us understand what a cornerstone is. “The stone at the corner of two walls and uniting them; specifically, the stone built into one corner of the foundation of an edifice as the actual or nominal starting point of a building.” God is at the core of all that we are and do. He is our compass for living in this world and the next. God said in Isaiah 28:16: “Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem. It is firm, a tested and precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never run away again.” Who or what is this cornerstone he is referring to. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2:4-6. “Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by the people, but he is precious to God who chose him. And now God is building you, as living stones, you are God’s holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ. As the Scriptures express it, ‘I am placing a stone in Jerusalem, a chosen cornerstone, and anyone who believes in him will never be disappointed.’” Isaiah is speaking about Jesus Christ. Trust Him and you shall live. Reject Him and you will remain spiritually dead. It is Christ who we look toward to align our hearts and lives. As we look to Him our hearts and lives are straightened and crookedness is removed.

Our goal is not to live and die and get to heaven. Heaven is not a reward. Heaven is a place God has prepared for all who are restored to Him--those who love and honor Him. Our goal is to excel with Him in life. Each of us strives for personal, spiritual independence. We go through life trying to patch up our own dents, trying to add special fuel additives and think that our lives look healthy and fine. We add trinkets to the outside, flaming decals to cover up the mess that’s on the inside. It is better to team up with the chief engineer and follow His plan for your life. To gain his expertise. Romans 9:30 says it clearly, “The Gentiles have obtained salvation, have obtained righteousness, by faith, but Israel who pursued the law of righteousness, has not attained it.” Why? They did not pursue it by faith. They pursued heaven as if it were a reward. The Pharisees were rebuked by Jesus because they sought to please God and enter heaven on their own merit. They sought to crash the gates of heaven with their righteousness deeds, which, ironically, were not righteous at all. Jesus tells them (John 8:42-47) what God thinks of their lifestyle. “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to do so! For you are the children of your father the Devil, and you love to do the evil things he does…. Anyone whose Father is God listens gladly to the words of God. Since you don’t, it proves you aren’t God’s children.” All who try to enter heaven on their own merit will hear those same words!

Copyright 2004 by Pastor Dave Strem