CAN
GOD BE TRUSTED
A
THOUSAND TIMES, YES!
By
Pastor Max Solbrekkken, D.D.
“Shall
not the Judge of the whole earth do right?”
(Gen. 18: 25) Can
God be trusted? The
answer is: ‘Yes,
God can be trusted’!
YOU
MAY ASK: “What
assurances do we have of His credibility, reliability and
benevolence? Is there any possibility that He may waver in His
commitment to the human family? Or renege on His promises to us?”
The
answer is a definite resounding, ‘No!
He cannot waver or change, ever’.
What are His promises and commitments to His human creatures? Is He
responsible to any of us? And does He have the wherewithal and
resolve to carry through with His commitment?
The
answer is, ‘Yes’! God
stands behind His Word and is duty bound to keep His plans and
purposes for us. And He has the resources and the resolve to keep His
Word to us!
Are
we asked to trust Him on a ‘leap
in the dark’
basis? Is faith only ‘blind
chance’
or do we have something substantial to stand on? Is He consistent or
does He change with the ever- changing times?
What is
His attitude toward the human race, and believers in Christ in
particular? Is His love and mercy a tangible reality or only the
sanctimonious platitudes of men? Does He really involve Himself in
the day to day lives of His people?
Are
His claims true? Do His promises hold water? Does the Gospel really
work? Or is it all so much window dressing and rhetoric? Does He
answer prayer and is He available when we need Him?
After
more than 50 years of declaring the Gospel across the world, reading
reams of materials on theology, philosophy, history and sociology,
and praying for tens of thousands of people, I have come to the
following conclusion.
Without
doubt, God can be trusted to keep His Word. He can be trusted to do
that which is right, in all instances! He can be trusted to hear our
prayers and answer according to His Own will and in His Own way.
He
will not, nor can He ever fail us, because He is infallible,
invincible, immutable, all-wise, all-good, all-knowing, all-powerful,
everywhere present and eternal!
1.
GOD LOVES US ALL!
His
great compassionate heart embraces all who call upon His name. His
mercy is available to all sinners, including His enemies! Jesus
Christ prayed for those who ridiculed and blasphemed Him and nailed
Him to a rugged cross! In His great suffering, He prayed “Father
forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
(Luke 23: 34)
Right
up to the very last, our loving Saviour never missed an opportunity
to minister to people’s needs – For example, healing
the severed ear of the High Priest’s servant in Gethsemane
(Luke 22: 50) and
forgiving the repentant thief hanging beside Him on Golgotha’s
Hill! (Luke 23: 34)
St.
James very implicitly pointed out that Almighty God is a benevolent
Heavenly Father, Who allows the sun which He created to shine on the
“just and the
unjust”
and that He is “no
respecter of persons”
(Acts 10: 34-35;
Rom.2: 11), and with Him is “no
variableness or shadow of turning.”
(James 1: 17)
The
Bible says: “Beloved,
let us love one another: for love is of God. In this was manifested
the love of God toward us because God sent His only begotten Son into
the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that
we loved Him but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation (expiation,
mercy seat)
for our sins.”
(1 John 4: 7-10)
The
word propitiation
means that Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for us satisfied God’s
demands of Divine Justice for the sins of the world!
The
Bible’s Golden Text tells the story better than anyone can: “For
God so loved the world that He gave His Only begotten Son that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through Him might be saved.”
(John 3: 16, 17)
2.
THE WORLD STANDS GUILTY BEFORE GOD!
The
Bible says: “For
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
(Rom. 3: 23); “As
it is written, There is none that is righteous, no, not one.”
(Rom.3: 10); “The
Scripture hath concluded all under sin.”
(Gal.3: 22). The
Word of God states: “All
we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to His own
way and the Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.”
(Is.53: 6)
The
very fact that God sent His Son - Jesus the Christ- into this wicked
world in search of rebellious sinners, to suffer humiliation and
death on a cruel cross proves the great COMPASSION of our loving
Heavenly Father, who was intent upon reconciling lost humanity with
Himself.
His
desire to improve the lot of fallen mankind was so great that He gave
His only begotten Son to pay the penalty for our redemption, which
provides hope, peace, joy, harmony, health and eternal life, to all
who call upon His name in sincerity and truth!
These
Bible passages tell us the truth about Almighty God, who is
compassionate, merciful, gracious, kind and totally benevolent. St.
John stated unequivocally: “God
is love.” (1
John 4: 8). How wonderful to know that our lives are in the hands of
the ONE who made us, loves us, sustains us, heals us and watches over
us!
SIN
IS AN OBSTACLE TO FELLOWSHIP!
The
main obstacle to fellowship with our Heavenly Father, Creator,
Saviour and Deliverer - who keeps and sustains us - is sin which in
essence, is transgression, disobedience, rebellion and unbelief.
After
our first parent’s disastrous fall from grace, God put into place
an elaborate sacrificial system, with innocent animals substituting
for sinful mankind.
The
penalty for sinning and the price of reconciliation was the shedding
of blood, because “the
wages of sin is death.”
(Rom.3: 23). Every sacrifice pointed to God’s own Son Jesus Christ,
who died on the cross for the sins of the world as “the
Lamb of God”.
(John 1: 29).
The
Bible states: “He that covereth his sin shall not prosper, but he
that confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall have mercy.”
(Prov.28: 13)
“Surely,
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with His
stripes we are healed.”
(Is. 53: 4-5)
“Bless
the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy Name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy
Name. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy
diseases, Who redeemeth thy life from destruction…”
(Psalms 103: 1–4)
3.
JESUS’ BLOOD ATONED FOR OUR SINS AND SICKNESSES!
“When
the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed
with devils; and He cast out the spirits with His Word and healed all
that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias
the prophet, saying, Himself
took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses.”
(Matt.8: 16, 17).
“Who
His own Self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we,
being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: By Whose stripes
ye were healed.”
(1 Peter 2: 24); “For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life.
For God sent
not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
through Him might be saved.”
(John 3: 16, 17)
“He
that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how
shall He not with Him also FREELY give us all things?”
(Rom.8: 32): “Is any sick among you, let him call for the elders of
the church. And let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the
name of the Lord.
“And
the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him
up and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven them.”
(James 5: 14, 15)
“God
is not willing that any should perish but come unto repentance but
that all should come unto repentance.” (1 Tim.2: 3-6); “I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked, saith the Lord.” (Ezek.33: 11)
“If
we deny Him, He cannot deny Himself.”
(2 Tim.2: 12): “If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all righteousness.”
(1 John 1: 9)
When
Jesus died upon Golgotha’s Hill, He suffered the most inhumane
humiliation, suffering, torment and death that was possible to be
exacted on a human being!
A
crown of Jerusalem thorns - the
Arabian Nebulae -
was placed upon His head and beaten down with a rod until the more
than 100 speculates dug into His scalp. Instead of losing His mind as
often happened during such a cruel ordeal, He purchased our peace of
mind!
4.
HE TOOK AWAY OUR FEAR, SHAME & DISGRACE!
The
Romans always crucified murderers, thieves, slaves and traitors
naked. It is assumed that a man condemned to be crucified was further
humiliated by being hung on the cross totally naked. It is evidenced
that our Saviour died in the greatest of physical degradation and
humiliation in this manner also.
All
of us have said or done things that we are ashamed of. I believe the
reason Jesus died naked on the cross was to bear our shame so need
not to be ashamed. He
bore our SHAME on
that tree!
The Bible says: “Now there
stood by the cross of Jesus, His mother, and His mother’s sister,
Mary the mother of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore
saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, He
sayeth unto His mother, Woman,
behold thy son!
Then sayeth He to His Disciple, Behold
thy mother! And
from that hour that disciple took her unto His own home.” (John 19:
25-27). The
other Gospel writers specifically state that with the exception of
Mary, Jesus’ mother and possibly His aunt Mary, the mother Cleopas,
the other women, “were
there beholding a far off.”
(Matt.27: 55, 56); “were
looking on a far off”
(Mark 15: 40); “stood
a far off, beholding these things.” (Luke
23: 49)
When Jesus
saw His mother, He beckoned her to come near with John so that He
as the eldest son
could make arrangement for her welfare!
He
bore our shame so that we do not need to bear it! He does not make a
habit of humiliating anyone or making sport of anyone! God is gentle
and kind, long suffering and full of compassion!
David
assumed that same posture when he heard about the tragic death of
King Saul and Jonathon. He said: “Tell
it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the
daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the
uncircumcised triumph…”
(2 Samuel 1: 20)
THERE
IS NO GOD BESIDE ME!
The
Bible says: “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is NO God
beside Me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known Me. That they
may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is
NONE beside Me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.”
“Thus
saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask Me of
things to come concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My
hands, command ye Me.
“Look
unto Me and be ye SAVED, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and
there is none else. I have sworn by Myself, the Word has gone out of
My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto Me every
knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear (confess).” (Is.
45:5,6,11, 22,23)
“God
is not a man that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He
should repent (CHANGE): hath He said, and shall He not do it? Or hath
He spoken, and shall He not Make it good?” (Numbers 23: 19)
“But
the end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober and watch
unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity among
yourselves: for (charity) LOVE
SHALL COVER THE MULTITUDE OF SINS.”
(1 Peter 4: 7,8)
ALL THINGS ARE
POSSIBLE!
“And
Jesus said unto him, All things are possible to him that believeth.”
(Mark 9: 23); “And Jesus looking upon him saith, With men this
impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
(Mark 10: 27)
“And
Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say
unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou
removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his
heart, but shall BELIEVE that those things which he saith shall come
to pass; he shall whatsoever he saith.
“Therefore,
I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe
that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark 11: 24)
“Ask,
and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find,; knock and it
shall be opened unto you” For every one that asketh receiveth; and
he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
“Or
what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him
a stone; or if he ask fish, will ye give him a serpent? If ye then,
being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much
more shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to then
that ask Him?”
(Matt.
7:7-11)
“Believest
thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? the words that
I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth
in Me, He doeth the works.
“Believe
Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; or else believe Me
for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
believeth on Me, the WORKS that I do shall he do also; and greater
works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.
“And
whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father
may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, I
WILL DO IT. If ye love Me, keep My commandments.
“And
I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that
He may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit
of Truth; Whom the
world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him:
but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you.
“At
that day, ye shall know that I am in My Father and My Father in Me,
and ye in Me, and I in you.
“He
that hath My commandments, and keepeth them he it is that loveth Me:
and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love
him, and will manifest Myself to him…
“If
a man love Me, he will keep My WORDS: and My Father will love him,
and we will come unto Him, and make our abode with him.”
(John 14: 10-23). Amen.
