The Truth About Repentance

I sat at my writing desk looking out the open window, allowing the bustle of a rainy springtime dusk to enchant my senses…

Birds excitedly played and prepared for summer sun, while little tree buds drank the water droplets that would soon transform them into a painting of greenery. I was simply still; enjoying the world as it bloomed to life once again.

It was in the stillness that God revealed Himself to me… not as a powerful, divine, supernatural being, rather as a Father. A gentle, humble Father approaching His daughter for a chat.

“Yes, Father?” I whispered into the warm breeze.

He softly replied:

“I am heartbroken…”

His voice wasn’t as I had remembered. It was not like thunder. It did not shake the mountains. It did not part the sea. It did not roar like a lion… it was quiet, gentle, sad. Filled with a raw truthfulness and humility that pierced me. For what breaks my Father’s heart also breaks mine.

Tears brimmed my eyelids.

It was then I knew why He had asked me to be still… Not to speak to me with parental authority, but to simply share with me. He wanted me to patiently listen to His heart, as He had listened to mine many times before.

In His honest reveal, I saw the brilliant light of clarity shine through the misconceptions, the resistance, and the fear about repentance, and understood His defining position on this matter…

You see, Biblical scripture is God’s living Word breathed through man. But when corruption twists His pure and perfect words into something false, a distorted narrative spreads like poison through us all. Such as this familiar ultimatum we’ve all heard: “Repent of your sins or burn in hell.”

God speaks with loving righteousness and fair judgement. His laws are flawless truth. Unfortunately, this verse is usually delivered with man-made aggression and excludes further explanation, which portrays an angry God who is thirsty for punishment. That is not the God I personally know. He has always approached me as a loving Father to explain His word to me, and His stance on repentance was expressed as such…

“And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” —Genesis 6:6 KJV

My best friend always said that Genesis 6:6 is her favorite verse because God’s emotional conviction felt “human-like,” supporting an intimate closeness with Him. However, a few years ago, as her and I examined this verse more closely, we realized that her strong resonance was not because God was being “like us,” but because God had given us the emotional intelligence to be like Him. Meaning, we are equipped in the image of God to experience HIS thoughts and emotions. This was a beautifully profound moment of understanding for us both!

God is our ultimate example of perfect love, which is fully expressed in the life and death (transfiguration) of Jesus on the cross. When man became so vile and sinful, committing horrible, unspeakable acts, the truth is… we broke God’s heart. It caused Him great sorrow to witness what we had become. The pain was so deep, that He felt sorry for creating us. This was God’s repentance. He then chose to cleanse the earth of everyone except for Noah and his family. All these years later, we’re still breaking His heart…

I know what you might be thinking: What kind of loving Father would end His own children? With recent developments of the “E-files” and all of us witnessing the increasing evil in our world, are we still asking this question? Because honestly, I’m not. I have personally made peace with God’s decisions.

It’s also worth noting that Biblical scholars and theologists are still debating the “condition” humans were in at the point of the flood. It’s highly possible that the interbreeding of angelic beings with women, producing abominations like the Nephilim, infiltrated the original, pure human bloodline creating mostly non-humans. Scholars are suggesting that Noah’s family may have been the only purebloods left, which is why God chose them to repopulate the earth. This is only speculation, but it’s an interesting theory to consider.

Keep in mind, God wanted me to highlight His pain regarding this situation. Not anger. Not aggression. Not revenge… rather deep heartache. Delivering the message of Genesis 6:6 from this perspective is not very common. God must have wanted to remind us that His sorrow is a significant part of His repentance experience. We should all take some time to reflect on this.

God’s heartbreak over humanity’s dreadful actions is no different than any parent would feel if they truly did their best raising a child with (almost) perfect parenting, and their offspring went on to commit heinous atrocities. The parent(s) would most definitely feel bad and sorry for those acts. We were given the ability to create life, which means the grief we’d feel if our child chose sin is not of human nature— it’s God’s own emotions being expressed through us.

God was also the first to repent, once again demonstrating what divine order looks like. Through this first act of repentance, we now fully understand its true meaning and can emulate His example.

How repentance relates to self-love, self-worth, and how we treat others:

I have seen countless interviews with people who either didn’t believe in God or hated Him. Some calmly explained their reasoning and others had full melt downs of violence or anger toward the interviewer. Here’s my main takeaway: Almost every time the person stayed long enough to answer the questions, a deeper truth was revealed. Most people who turned away from God also turned away from themselves…

I once heard a quote that said, “If God is love and made us in His image, then to reject Him is to reject ourselves.” Simply put, the nonbelievers in these interviews did not care about their own life and some even loathed who they were. Many got aggravated at their real-time revelation, while others broke down in tears and allowed the interviewer to pray for them.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” —Ephesians 2:10 NKJV

Without knowing our own worth and value, we make decisions that hurt ourselves, as well as others. We sin against ourselves and against others. We commit acts of violence against ourselves and against others. If you’re wondering “how” someone can do horrible things to another person, it’s usually because they don’t value their own life, so they don’t value anyone else’s either.

The deeply healing act of repentance:

In definition, repentance is a change of mind and of heart to turn away from what is vile, and to turn toward God.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” —1 John 1:9 KJV

Jesus’ finished work on the cross is meant to wash us clean of all the wicked things we did and will do. God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to demonstrate His forgiveness, not His wrath. To free us from death and give us eternal life. To purify our souls, transforming us into perfect, spotless creations that are more precious to Him than anything else!

God made us because He wanted us. We are the heirs to a royal Kingdom where there is no pain or suffering. God never abandons anyone, no matter what they have done, but He does want us to understand His grand design for healing/being saved. This plan includes seeing the error of our human ways and making our repentance apologies.

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” —1 John 1:7 KJV

His supernatural, transformative love surpasses any “healing” methods this world could ever offer us. When we repent for the hurtful things we have done to ourselves and to others, it is an apology to God Himself. From the moment we choose to repent, we are purified and made new.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” —2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

I have been walking with God for 34 years and He has never once shown me a heavy hand or an angry disposition. He has shown me kindness, support, and nurturing in all His ways. He fortifies me with patience, edifies me with wisdom, and holds me with compassion. I kneel as a servant in His glorious presence and love Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. He is a God of endless forgiveness and mercy.

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  —Romans 8:38-39 KJV

And what does the future hold? A magnificent Heaven awaits…

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away; reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.” —1 Peter 1:3-5 NKJV

Let us replace human coercion with the Lord’s tender correction.

No longer will we hear the message about repentance from angry voices yelling, “Repent of your sins or burn in Hell!”

No longer will we hear scripture with human ears, rather through interpretation of the Holy Spirit who imparts divine wisdom to us all.

Let us forever hear our loving Father whisper from His heart to ours, this beautiful promise of our eternal inheritance…

“From that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” — Matthew 4:17 NKJV

Amen!

With Love, Michelle