Jonah: Big Fish, Bigger GodIsampula

The heart of God

Imagine a spectrum of morality with the worst people on one end and the most loving people on the other end. Moral monsters here; Mother Teresas there. From Hitler to child abusers to violent criminals to desperate addicts to the arrogant, the average, the kind, the generous, the good examples, the people you want to babysit your babies, and the people you want to be like. Can you picture a lineup of humanity according to morality?

Who has a chance of going to heaven? And who is in danger of the torment of hell? According to God, everyone and everyone. According to Jesus, no one is so good they deserve to be with God. And no one, according to Jesus, is so bad they can’t make it to God, can’t be saved.

That is what made Jonah mad. After seeing the wicked men of Nineveh spared, he whined, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:2,3).

True Christianity is unbearable to some people because salvation is not by works. Sin—every size and shape of it—is worse than you think, so bad that even the best life can’t pay its debt. Grace—abounding in God’s heart and poured out on the cross—is better than you believe, so good that even the worst sinners can be saved. Grasp that, and you’ll get the heart of God.