"Relentless"

"Relentless"       

     

   

    Of the many adjectives that describe the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, "relentless" frequently comes to mind.

   He is relentless in purpose.  "Eternal purpose in Christ Jesus" guides our Heavenly Father's actions as He works to "gather together in one all things in Christ" (Ephesians 3:11; 1:10).  He does not act arbitrarily, sentimentally, or impulsively, but rather according to determinations guided by His character and nature.  "The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works" (Psalm 145:17).  God is perfectly consistent in purpose, and thus in devotion to the glory of His Son and the well being of His creation.  Relentless in purpose.

   He is relentless in truth.  Truth constitutes the very being of God.  "I am… the truth" declared the Lord Jesus (John 14:6).  Thus, our Lord can only think, speak, act, and relate in reality as it actually exists.  "The Lord liveth in truth" (Jeremiah 4:2).  Journey into the heart of God and you'll find no trace of falsehood, insincerity, deception, or pretense.  He is who He is.  He is always who He is.  Every outward expression flows in precise accordance with inward reality.  Relentless in truth.

   He is relentless in power.  He is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20).  As the angel rhetorically asked Abraham, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14).  God can do all things that accord with His character and nature, even as a vast creation of beauty, complexity, and wonder proclaims in both the immense and infinitesimal.  Even more, our own lives reveal the power of God as we trust Him to act on our behalf, and as He does over and over and over again.  Relentless in power.

   He is relentless in grace.  "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Romans 5:20).  God loves to give, He loves to forgive, and He loves to grant undeserved goodness far more than we desire to receive it.  Indeed, "God loveth a cheerful giver" because He is a cheerful giver (II Corinthians 9:7).  We must know our Lord accordingly, and we must declare far and wide, and within our own hearts that the hymnist wrote truly when she penned, "Out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again".  Relentless in grace.

   He is relentless in mercy.  "He delighteth in mercy" exulted the prophet (Micah 7:18).  God loves to offer and bestow forgiveness, to the degree that He gave His beloved Son to a cross of suffering, forsakenness, and death in order to provide freely given pardon to all who believe.  He also continues to forgive and cleanse His trusting children in Christ for the maintenance of our fellowship with Him if we sin.  As the Apostle John wrote, "we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (I John 2:1).  The Psalmist concurred - "Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee" (Psalm 86:5).  Relentless in mercy.

   He is relentless in involvement.  "God… worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:11).  Creation teems with the presence and working of its Creator.  We see so very little of His activity in relative terms, but the heart and hand of God works in all things nevertheless.  In the lives of believers, He works "all things together for good", and if we could see all the Lord's doings on our behalf, we would be overwhelmed by His moving upon, around, and within us (Romans 8:28).  Relentless in involvement.

   He is relentless in faithfulness.  "Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds" (Psalm 36:5).  Faithfulness constitutes my favorite aspect of the loving character and nature of God.  Indeed, somebody - Somebody - exists who can be trusted with all our hearts (Proverbs 3:5).  As we frequently suggest in these messages, no one has ever trusted in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and been disappointed in doing so.  And no one ever will.  A faithful Heart will always vindicate our faithful hearts as we choose to believe in the perfect trustworthiness of God.  Relentless in faithfulness.

   He is relentless in holiness.  As already mentioned, God is who He is.  He is always who He is.  He will always be who He is.  And He will always think, speak, act, and relate as who He is.  He is devoted to His own being, character, and nature.  "I am the Lord, I change not" (Malachi 3:6).  Such continuity comprises the foundation of His holiness, and the glorious truth that we shall find our Lord the same today as we did yesterday, and the same tomorrow as today.  Relentless in holiness.

   Finally, He is relentless in love.  The Lord forever dwells in His unselfish devotion to others.  "I have loved thee with an everlasting love" proclaimed God to Israel (Jeremiah 31:3).  He would say the same us who have become the very dwelling places of His sublime character: "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us" (Romans 5:5).  The term "shed abroad" means lavish bestowal of the Lord's unselfish goodness not only upon us, but within us.  Believers live our lives in not only the love of God, but in the immeasurable devotion of His heart to our hearts.  We must believe such truth, first because it is true, and then in order to experience the reality of the spiritual wonder in which we live.  Our Heavenly Father created and redeemed us to serve as the recipients of His ongoing determination to reveal the glory of His completely unselfish character, nature, and way.  "His love is perfected in us" (I John 4:12).  Eternity will not suffice for the full revelation of such glory, and this day offers new glimpses of the wonder that is our God.  Relentless in love.

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved), and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."

(Ephesians 2:4-7)

Weekly Memory Verse 

   By Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers.

(Colossians 1:16)