In Isaiah 65:2, we read something that’s so beautiful, yet so deep:
I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people,
Who walk in a way that is not good,
According to their own thoughts;
How does this verse apply to us as Seventh-Day Adventist Christian teens?
Well, in the context of this verse, God had been stretching out His hands “all day long” to save Israel from their sinful, rebellious ways. Even though Israel constantly “provoked” Him to anger (verse 3), consumed “abominable things” (verse 4), and had a “holier than you” attitude (verse 5), God still “stretched out” His hands toward them–longing to help and save Israel.
And today God is still doing the same thing. He is stretching out His hands with a deep longing to save us, spiritual Israel (Galatians 6:16), from our own rebellious, sinful selfishness. But more than that, God already stretched out His hands to secure pure salvation and victory for you. But God’s hands weren’t stretched out from Heaven as what happened for literal Israel in Isaiah 65:2. No, the hands of God were “stretched out” on an old, rugged cross on Calvary just for YOU! God came down “in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7) to stretch out His hands wide on a splintery cross just so you can have hope for your rebellious, selfish sins. Ellen White has some beautiful commentary on the cross. She writes:
“The spotless Son of God hung upon the cross, His flesh lacerated with stripes; those hands so often reached out in blessing, nailed to the wooden bars; those feet so tireless on ministries of love, spiked to the tree; that royal head pierced by the crown of thorns; those quivering lips shaped to the cry of woe. And all that He endured—the blood drops that flowed from His head, His hands, His feet, the agony that racked His frame, and the unutterable anguish that filled His soul at the hiding of His Father’s face—speaks to each child of humanity, declaring, It is for thee that the Son of God consents to bear this burden of guilt; for thee He spoils the domain of death, and opens the gates of Paradise. He who stilled the angry waves and walked the foam-capped billows, who made devils tremble and disease flee, who opened blind eyes and called forth the dead to life,—offers Himself upon the cross as a sacrifice, and this from love to thee. He, the Sin Bearer, endures the wrath of divine justice, and for thy sake becomes sin itself.”
–{The Desire of Ages pg. 755
What great lengths God took to outstretch His hands to save you and me from our sinful, rebellious ways! What a love God greatly manifested in stretching out His hands on that old rugged cross just to give us hope and victory through His blood!
Doesn’t that make you feel thankful for the great sacrifice that was made on your behalf and mine? I mean, I just love how Paul put it in Romans 5:8–
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Friend, during this time of year as many Christians around the world celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection, I’d like to appeal to you to take time to think about how far God went to stretch out His hands to save you and me from our rebellious sinfulness. As it says in one of the most well-known verses in the Bible, John 3:16–
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
And also in 1 John 3:1–
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Take time to seriously think, dear reader, of how far God went just to outstretch the gift of salvation, the gift of victory, and the gift of hope to you–even when you didn’t CARE about Him and His will!
Dear reader, if you feel moved that God literally stretching out His hands on Calvary just so you could obtain FULL VICTORY, PURE HOPE, and GREAT SALVATION over all the rebelling selfish sins in your heart, I’d like to appeal to you to pray the following prayer below:
I’d like to conclude this post with a beautiful and inspiring statement from Ellen White:
[God’s hand] is stretched out still, bearing the brightest beams of His glory, the marks of the crucifixion. In the short period of time left in which to repent and be converted, He desires those who claim to be His children to take His outstretched hand, saying, “In my hands no price I bring; simply to thy cross I cling.” Then a great work will be done among God’s people. Those in our institutions will bow unreasonable, untamable self before the Desire of Ages. There is a deeper experience to be gained, an experience which leads to the words, “All of Christ and none of self.” The Saviour desires those who claim to be His servants to carry out His will.
–{Manuscript 16, 1901
It is my sincere hope and prayer that each and every one of us–myself included–will remember to take the outstretched hand of God’s omnipotent power and go forth to carry the message of a crucified, risen, and soon coming Savior to a world dying for the hope, victory, and salvation found only in Christ’s blood!
Amen! Maranatha!