How does God feel…

What do you think passes through the mind of God as he looks down on his world and us, the human creatures he gives life to? Is it sorrow, seeing how we neglect him so much? Is it eager desire to intervene and put things right? Is it holy anger at the horrible deeds so many of us do? Or may it be complacency, suffering long over our moral madness but still managing to smile? Or compassion, looking forward to the time when he would come to our aid?

How would he desire to improve things? By cataclysmic judgments to bring us in repentance to his footstool? By tears of love, showing his desire for us to be better and to reform our ways? Or would it be by flattering us with “well-done” and smiling benignly at our efforts? Rather, wouldn’t he seek to gather us together and calm us down long enough for us to pay attention to what he wants to say to us?

At least one thing should be clear in the light of his dealings with human failings in Bible times: His feelings would show his divine love, his pure holiness, and his profound wisdom. He has feelings he would want to convey, he has a judgment he would righteously render, and he has advice that would bring the necessary improvement.

In fact, when he sent his Son Jesus into the world, these were the services he rendered to humanity in those days; and as human nature hasn’t essentially changed over the centuries, we may well listen and learn from the divine wisdom that Jesus brought: it is still there for us to read in the New Testament.

“The time is fulfilled,” was his first big public statement; “the kingdom of God is at hand” – meaning he himself was the King of glory come to open up the Kingdom of God to all believers. Then he gave two vital pieces of advice in succinct bullet-form: “Repent and believe the Gospel, the Good News” (Mark 1.15).

This means that when God looked down on humankind in those days, he saw their need to repent and to hear some good news. I’m sure that as he looks down on our society today, he has the same attitude and would repeat the same message, so let’s think about it.

To “repent” means essentially two things, but both are an appeal to change. To repent is first of all to re-think. Jesus didn’t need to do an in-depth study of the thought forms of his day, quizzing the lecturers on what they were teaching the people. Whatever they were saying, Jesus with his divine insight knew that it was wrong: they hadn’t got it all together. Indeed, they were in darkness and he proclaimed himself to be “the light of the world” (John 8.12). He would bring us truth that we could never grasp without his revelation – and how much we still need that truth!

Secondly, to repent means to change our ways, to quit doing evil things, to turn from sin and start out on a new path, learning to live in righteousness and holiness. How we need that challenge today! 

The false ideas we hold to and the sins we keep committing are the source of our problems; so God wants us to change and calls us to repent.

But there’s “Good News” that God wants us to receive and believe: he’s keen to forgive us and to remake us as we commit ourselves to Christ and to that he calls us too.