274. Be God’s people
Ezekiel 11:20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
The purpose for the Lord giving us one heart, a new spirit, and a soft heart of flesh is that we may live according to the Law of God and obey His commandments. God gives a new and right spirit so the Spirit within will influence our lives in such a way that they will be more in conformity to God’s character. Then the promise comes: we will be His people and He will be our God.
This repeated Scriptural promise (His people, our God) gives a clue to the ultimate purpose of life, of creation, and of God. The Lord is strongly desirous of having a people that He can relate to, that He can know personally, that He can have an intimate relationship with, and that He may be in communion with. This is because God is love, and love seeks an object. According to some theologians, God’s love compelled Him to create the universe, that He might share His life. He wanted to love you and be loved in return.
The problem with love is that it cannot be forced or coerced, and it should not be selfish (loving only for what pleasure I might gain out of the action). It must be mutual (go both ways) and be freely given and received. The Satan accuses us (like Job) of loving God only for what good we might get out of the worship of God. The issue that arises in any love-seeking relationship is that it can be rejected, or spurned or ignored, like Adam and Eve (and us) who failed the test. So God made another way: He sent His Son.
Another problem with love is that a truly loving, giving, caring mutual relationship can only be with another of the same kind. The humans that God intends to love would have to be in His image, like God. We lost that image and became enemies of God. So the Lord had to give us a new spirit that would want to, not have to, love God, obey Him, believe Him, and walk in His ways. This He did, as promised. Now we are His people and He is our God. This new way of living is wonderful all the way around, for both God and for us.
And, by the way, God does not wait for us to walk in His ways or to become righteous and God-like. He gives such righteousness to us by grace first; we believe it and receive it; and then we begin to live in it. Faith makes us His people, and we gradually begin to look more and more like it, all because God promises.