Divine Invitations – From the Father
Divine Invitations – From the Father.
“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8).
Human history began with divine fellowship in the Garden of Eden. But Adam and Eve broke that intimate fellowship with God, and ever since, God has yearned to return to that vital relationship with us. The Lord will do whatever it takes, even to die, to restore that personal union and companionship with His people. The Bible begins with the preincarnate Christ walking with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day in Paradise. Unfortunately, that divine friendship was fractured, and throughout the rest of Scripture God is pleading with people to return, to come back to Him. Come, says the Father. Come, says the Son. Come, says the Holy Spirit. I so desire for you to move from there to here, He says. I initiated the communion between us, says the Lord, and now I want you to return to Me. A common thread through Scripture is God issuing invitations to come to Him. And our response? “Lo, here I am, I come… I delight to do your will, O my God.” (Ps. 40:7-8).
The Father says, Come:
#1 – “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction. Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. and he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” (Exodus 24:12-18).
God in His glory wanted Moses to spend time with Him, significant and meaningful time. So God said, Come. And Moses had the courage to walk up the mountain, more than once, as Sinai quaked, as it was covered by a thick cloud, was surrounded by lightning and thunder, accompanied by loud trumpet blasts. And the Lord descended on the mountain in fire and smoke. (Ex. 19). God said Come to Moses, and Moses went. Come to Me, says the Father, I have much to tell you. Let’s talk. And Moses accepted the invitation, and they talked.
#2 – “My lover spoke and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit, the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me.” (Song of Songs 2:10-13).
In His divine love song, the Husband woos His bride to come to Him and have the deepest of fellowship. God says to believers, Come away with me and we can once again experience the union we once had in Paradise. I am your eternal Husband, your spiritual Spouse, says the Lord. Come away with me, and we will have sweet communion in eternity, starting now.
#3 – “Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. Come, let us reason together. Let’s settle this! says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.” (Isaiah 1:16-18).
The Father tells His people, you need to be forgiven for your evil ways. You need to be washed clean, and I can do it! So come to me, let’s sit down together, and let me convince you that though you seem to be permanently stained red in sin, I can clean you pure white. Come to me, and we can reason together about this. Let’s settle this together once and for all. “Come. Sit down with me. Let’s argue this out.” (MSG). Let me convince you of my mercy and my power to forgive. Do you want a personal cleansing? Then come to me. This is a word to the wise, people. Come.
#4 – “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink – even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk – it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food. Come to me with ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life.” (Isaiah 55:1-3).
Father God says, Come to Me if you are spiritually thirsty, if you long for the fullness of divine waters and rich spiritual food. Your soul will delight in what I can offer you if you come to me to slake your thirst. And it’s free! Come to me and I will refresh you, renew you, and strengthen you, says the Lord. This messianic word was following up on the promise of Isaiah 44:3, that the Lord will send Someone to provide water for the thirsty, that this Person will pour God’s Spirit upon all who come to Him. Come to me, says the Lord, and you will never be thirsty again.”
#5 – “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:6-8).
Back in the time before Christ, a believer could be excused for any confusion as to how to respond to God’s invitation to come to Him. There certainly was a focus on the sacrificial system. So is that how they were to respond to His invitation? Did He limit His access to our coming to Him with rams and calves and oil and burnt offering? Or is there something even more central to the heart of God, more important than the Mosiac Law. Micah tells us that our approach to God involves the way we live our lives, our attitudes, our actions, our faith. When we come to God, He wants to see how we make personal sacrifices, like doing justice, and loving mercy, and walking humbly with Him. That is how we restore fellowship with God, He says. Come to me every day, He says. Become a living sacrifice.
#6 – “Come, let us go up to the Mount of the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob; that He may instruct us in His ways, and that we may walk in His paths. For instruction shall come forth from Zion, the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 2:3, TANAKH).
What will be our eventual response to God’s invitation? We will encourage each other to come to the New Jerusalem together, to the Messianic banquet. We are beckoned to Zion, and our response is to gather up the other believers as we go to heaven to experience God’s renewed fellowship with Him and each other. God says Come, everything is prepared, and our response is to say to each other, Come, let’s go together to be with the Savior. “Come before His presence with singing.” (Ps. 100:2). “Come, let us sing to the Lord; let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Come let us worship and bow down.” (Ps. 90:1, 2, 6).