Did you miss him?
"I will not share my glory with idols!
I alone am God, the First and the Last...From the beginning I have told you plainly what would happen.
And now the Sovereign Lord and his Spirit have sent me with this message...I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow. Oh, that you had listened to my commands!"
(Isaiah 48:11-18)
And God the Father says of Jesus Messiah, "You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." (Isaiah 49:6)
Oh thank God for the light of Jesus Christ that brings gospel of salvation to the whole world. Thank God for the Messiah when he comes and he says, "Come out in freedom, and to those in darkness, Come into the light."
But they missed his coming, they rejected the cornerstone. And even now many continue to say, "God has forsaken us", "Where was God in the ovens and the gas chambers?" And still many others have taken to a works salvation, on Yom Kippur they seek to expiate their sins and achieve reconciliation with God by sincere repentance works. As if they can work off their sin and achieve selfrighteousness. But they missed the redeeming Christ who has already paid that price. Who has already been made an offering for all sin.
And God says, I called and you did not answer, I came and you did not come. "Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce?"
Isaiah 50:1
"Was your mother sent away because I divorced her? Did I sell you as slaves to my creditors? No, you were sold because of your sins. And your mother, too, was taken because of your sins."
Isaiah 50:2
"When I came, why was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Was my arm too short to deliver you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you?"
The Lord said, those who rely upon their own light, those who take up their own torches and light their own fires, those who provide for themselves shall walk in their own light and lie down in their own torment. In another word, they made their bed, now sleep in it.
The only way ANYONE can reconcile with God is by grace alone, sola gratia. The salvation of mankind is utterly beyond our own powers, endeavors, structures, and works. Salvation depends entirely on the choice, will, and work of another, namely, of God alone. Sola gratia does not mean that God has accomplished most of the work for our salvation, but there still remains a little bit that we need to contribute. Yes our faith MUST produce fruit, for it is by faith that we are saved. And yes faith must not be dead in its response to the salvation work of The Spirit. And yes we can conclude that a faith that is not bearing fruit in The Spirit, is likely a dead faith, meaning not a sincere faith. Thereby not faith at all. God’s grace does not bring us into a state which enables a neutral human response. But just the same, salvation is from God alone. The discernment of fruit merely stands as a testimony of genuine faith, it only accomplishes that...it bears no relation to salvation work. God has accomplished everything necessary for our salvation. Salvation is not an abstract action, but a personal and gracious redemption of each who accepts it. From start to finish, from election to conversion to heaven, salvation is by God’s grace alone. It's personal and it's contingent only on God's love, God’s sovereign grace, his alone. He alone is sovereign, King.
God holds His little ones firmly in His hand, and Christ will raise all His people on the last day (John 6:41–46). That cannot be taken from them. Who can overthrow God's hand?
AND!
And if the Spirit dwells within us...if our faith is genuine...sincere...no demonic force can enter in and possess that person. The angels of God do battle and watch over that saved Child of God.
"If God works in us, the will is changed, and being gently breathed upon by the Spirit of God, it again wills and acts from pure willingness and inclination and of its own accord, not from compulsion, so that it cannot be turned another way by any opposition, nor be overcome or compelled even by the gates of hell, but it goes on willing and delighting in and loving the good, just as before it willed and delighted in and loved evil." (Martin Luther)
The only possible reply is to fall on our knees before our gracious God in humble awe at His eternal purpose. To find his Holy One and follow Him. To love him with all our heart, mind, spirit, and strength.
God never judges us because we're born sinful, he doesn't judge us because we're finite human fallen beings, he sent his only Son to cover that, he judges us because we sin and are oriented towards self righteousness. From the creation of time salvation has always been from God alone. Christ paid the bride price for his children, a moral payment, not a financial gift. As long as the price is paid, even if paid by another (Christ in this case), the atonement is not entitled. God alone CHOOSES to accept that payment. That's justice.
For every person saying, "where was God..."
There was God.
Did you miss him?