The Hardening of Hearts
As the plagues rained down on Egypt in the book of Exodus, at some point or another questioned why Pharaoh would possibly persist in his stubbornness. For Pharaoh, the torture of his own people due to his own behavior did not sway his from his tyrannical rule. Yet, at some point, we see the heart of Pharaoh harden. “Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.” (Exodus 11:10 ESV) For the first few plagues Pharaoh seemed more than willing to harden his own heart to the sufferings of people and the guidance of the Lord. Yet, at the end, the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, handing him over to the desires of his own heart.
This idea in the book of Exodus of hearts hardening terrifies me to my core. The idea of persistent sin and willful disobedience to God resulting in a hardening of my own heart to the things of the Lord intimidates and scares me to my core. My faith and hope rests in the Lord and I firmly believe He is the King over all creation and that His death on the cross counted for me. Yet, I must admit that there are sins that still seem to be a persistent struggle. Sins that, for whatever reason, I have not seemed to be able to kick for a while. My fear in these is that one day, my heart will become hardened to the effects of sin. We must not put any trust in following our own heart, as we know that our heart craves the things of the flesh and leads us towards our own destruction. Yet, by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God does not leave us in our condemnation but provides a new heart for us.
The Heart is Deceitful
All too often, society tells us to follow our hearts as our guiding star. Yet, in guiding people to follow their heart, we ignore the simple truth of our desires and our nature. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9 ESV) Our hearts, through sin, have become desperately decayed and hardened to the effects of sin. We crave our own destruction looking to satisfy the desires of the flesh. For those looking to inherit eternal life, following the heart becomes the worst thing they can do. An unrepentant heart seeks only our willful destruction and rebellion against a true and loving God. The state of our hearts precisely why we need a Savior to redeem us from the deceit of our own hearts.
Yet, we continue to sin knowing the full effects that sin has on our right standing with God. Apart from the work of Jesus Christ, our hearts posture us in condemnation for the In some cases, the punishment and discipline that God doles on people would be to hand them over to their own heart and ambitions. God does not need to invent creative punishments for mankind. At some point, God handed Pharaoh over to the desires of His heart and the destruction he craved. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart but Pharaoh craved it. The answer to the hardened heart can only be full submission to Jesus Christ as we crucify our preference, desires, and will in exchange for the heart of God.
A New Heart
For as hardened as our hearts have become, God does not leave us to the hardness our hearts and to the same fate as Pharaoh. Rather than handing us over to die by God’s righteous and good judgment, the fullness of our punishment is poured out on Jesus Christ on the cross, dying in our place. We no longer need to stand condemned in our sin, nor do we need to continually run back to the same recurring sins. Ezekiel would prophesy best of the coming of the Messiah and His mighty work to save our hearts.
“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.”
Ezekiel 36:25-29 ESV (emphasis added)
The enemy will scream “You are a sinner will always be a sinner. You have no worth and deserve to die.” We must not believe this lie. The message if the Gospel is the thunderous roar of heaven screaming “I know of all you have done and purchased you from the hand of death by the blood of my Son. My love for you is unending and your worth comes from abiding in me! Now come to me and be free.” God gives us a new heart to replace our hearts of stone that we have hardened ourselves. We no longer need to stand condemned in our own stone cold hardened heart but have been given the heart of God to guide our actions and renew our being. We are new creations in Jesus Christ. God gives us a new heart to stand strong relying on Him. And He will not leave us to die.
