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The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; 16 but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy.
2 Chronicles 36:15-16 NASB
Any skeptic who doesn’t believe in the grace of God only needs to read the Old Testament to get a good perspective. Imagine if the people of Israel and Judah were your children. How would you respond to their continual and repeated sin patterns? Imagine if they were your employees. They probably wouldn’t even make it past Genesis. The point is, God was patient. He was much more patient than any of us, especially considering the horrific sins that continued to plague His people.
I mean, just in this book alone we read of a king who sacrificed his own children on a burning altar! This should be disturbing to any human being regardless of your beliefs. So, what should God do at this point? What should be done about sin?
The writer of 2 Chronicles take a grim perspective. The Lord arose against His people and there was no remedy. The point of no return had been reached. In his book, The Grace and Truth Paradox, Randy Alcorn illustrates this exact scenario by telling a story.
Imagine a great and generous king. In the midst of his benevolent reign, he hears that his subjects have revolted. He sends messengers to investigate. The rebels kill them. So he sends his own dear son, the prince. They murder him viciously, hanging his body on the city wall. What would you expect the king to do now? Send his armies and take revenge, right? Kill those rebels! Burn their villages to ashes! That king certainly has both the power and the right to avenge himself. But what if the king turned around and offered these criminals a full pardon? “I will accept my son— whom you murdered— as the payment for all your rebellion. You may go free.
All I require is for you to admit your transgressions and embrace my son’s purchase of your forgiveness.” We’d be stunned— blown away— to hear this, wouldn’t we? But the king’s not finished. “I invite any of you to come live in my palace, eat at my table, and enjoy all the pleasures of my kingdom. And I will adopt you as my own children and make you my heirs, so everything that’s mine will be yours forever.”
Incredible. Then he says, “I won’t force you to accept my offer. But the only alternative is spending the rest of your life in prison. The choice is yours.” Can you imagine someone responding, “How dare the king send anyone to prison? What a cruel tyrant!”? This is God’s grace to us.
Randy Alcorn
The stories in Chronicles help us to realize exactly why Jesus had to come. They also help us to understand why Jesus was rejected. The grace of God is amazing and incomprehensible. We must never forget this.