Dear Ones:
Nearly one hundred and fifty years before Cyrus the Persian came on the scene, God revealed to Isaiah that Cyrus would come. (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1) It is as if God took His bow and shot His arrow across time and civilizations to declare that He is sovereign. He will do as He wills, and will accomplish His purposes.
“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He may give it you.” (John 15:16) God has chosen us for we did not of ourselves come to Him. “There is none that seeketh after God, none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Romans 3:11,12) We were “dead in trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1)
In other words we were dead to God, without the life of God, with absolutely no inclination towards God. God created a thirst within us and drew us to Himself.
Jesus said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” (John 7:37) The Psalmist said, “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary.” (Psalm 63:1,2) It is the Spirit of God that creates such thirst in the heart to draw our needy souls to seek that which is eternal. “No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him,” said Jesus. (John 6:44). It is God who puts “eternity” in our hearts. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) If there is even the slightest inquisitive thought of heavenly things, it is put in us by the Spirit of God.
John wrote in Revelation chapters 4 and 5 of a vision he had of God. He saw God the Father on the throne and he saw the Lamb of God, slain from before the foundation of the world. He saw all of heaven fall before Him. All in this scene speaks of the sovereignty of God.
What is God’s sovereign purpose as revealed in Scripture? It is to save and sanctify us that we should show forth His glory. By His Spirit He works to create thirst in our hearts, to draw out our hearts to Him. He wants to reveal Himself to us.
John Wesley translated these lyrics written by Nicolaus Zinzendorf in “I thirst, thou wounded Lamb of God“:
Nicolaus von Zinzendorf
What are our works but sin and death,
Till Thou Thy quickening Spirit breathe?
Thou giv’st the power Thy grace to move;
O wonderous grace! O boundless Love!
Listen: “I thirst, thou wounded Lamb of God” (by Quarry Street Hymnal)
Love,
Dad