“I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked!” (Ezekiel 33:11) What a glorious declaration from God that death and destruction need not be inevitable. There is a way of life, a restoration of hope that is certain and it begins with God. We must know that God is righteous, holy, merciful and just and only in accord with His attributes is the way of life opened.
A yearning tenderness here manifests itself, still seeking, notwithstanding all that has taken place, the return of those who survived to the way of peace. But with that tenderness, what a stern and unflinching holiness! There can be no relaxation or abatement mentioned in respect to this, not even amid the moanings of pain and cries of distress which arose from the people, – no return to life possible but through a return to righteousness. God is anxious, as a kind and affectionate parent, to see them restored to a happy and prosperous condition; he would not have them ignorant of that. But they must also know that in God’s sight there was a higher thing still, which he could on no account sacrifice for the sake of the other; he must maintain in his dealings with them the honour of his authority and the rectitude of his government; and only if they turn from their wicked ways, can he turn from his fierce displeasure. (emphasis added)
God is never waiting for the will of man to first act, God is acting and working to crush man’s will and bring him to his needs before the King of Kings. God’s dealings toward sinful man do not manifest change in God Himself – it can never be. The beauty of salvation is that God saves in harmony of all His attributes, all being magnified and all being necessary.
The righteousness of the righteous should not deliver him if he turned aside to transgression; but neither would the wickedness of the wicked prove his destruction, if he sincerely repented of his sins and laid hold of the covenant of God. These are God’s terms now, as they have been all along; the Lord’s servant has no other to offer; and if they are not concurred in, recovery is impossible. (emphasis added)
God dealing with sinners in this way is not new nor altered – it is rooted in the covenant of grace and the terms are the same. What is so beautiful is when these terms become our only refuge and hope and the character of God is magnified as we are humbled and needy before Him!