God's Longing For Humanity

My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Ezekiel 37:27, ESV)

This theme throughout Scripture, which includes the declaration of God, “I will be their God, and they shall be My people” is all throughout the Biblical text. It is as if this is the longing of God’s heart. You see it from Genesis to Revelation — all of Scripture points to God’s redemptive plan to reconcile humanity to Himself. This declaration is such a vulnerable statement. It is almost as if the Lord is burdened by this desire of His heart, the desire for Him to be Lord over our lives, in such a way that is rooted in our own desire and love for Him.

He is Longing for Relationship

I think of my time in high school, I had a crush on this girl and I remember occasionally just spending time before the Lord, in tears, sharing with Him this deep desire I had to one day be in a relationship with this girl. There was this weightiness and desperation; I was burdened by this desire and longing of my heart to see this future come to fruition. I could picture the life, I could picture our kids, I could picture the joy and contentment of the life I was desiring. However, my longing (especially the tears) came from the uncertainty of the very thing I was longing for. You see, I could picture the relationship, but it was never sure; in fact, it was unlikely — which brought upon a heavy burden, desperation, and deep pain and vulnerability before the Lord.

Now consider the Lord’s longing in regard to this theme. He is God. He has predestined and foreknown the outcome of human history and human reconciliation through His Son, since the beginning of time. Yet, His longing does not seem to be much different than what I described about my experience with my high school crush. You see, God is certain that He will be our God and we will be His people; and yet He still ponders and meditates on this future where He will be in an intimate relationship with His creation. Just as you can imagine me in high school, daydreaming “I’m going to marry that girl one day”, God is longing for the day, almost painfully, that He will be our God and we will be His people. And yet, He is sure it will come, He even set the boundaries of the perfect timing in which it will come to pass — but His desire, His longing, is so strong that He cannot help Himself but to meditate on the longing of His heart for the day He will be our God and we will be His people.

He is Longing for Worship

God longs to be encountered by you. And that’s the other component of this beautiful truth. He longs for us and loves us, but it doesn’t stop there. God is ultimately for Himself, for His own glory. He jealously desires that hearts would be turned toward Him and worship Him. Though it may sound selfish and self-seeking, and in a righteous sense — it is. We are called to engage with God, and in this exchange there is a residual effect of our sacrifice, our pouring out, our offering, our worship to Him. As we exalt Him, in our unity with Him, He exalts us. His longing is not just for Him to rule over submissive subjects, but to be worshiped by His creation and to bless them simultaneously.

To encounter Him and worship Him rightly is to also abide in the blessings of His grace, not necessarily as a reward, but as a natural consequence. And ultimately this is the longing of God’s heart when He communicates, “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” You see, the blessing is in the longing — not that they are one in the same — but that the blessing is the natural consequence of God’s longing. He longs to be our God and for us to be His people; and yet, this is also the greatest blessing, that He will be our God, and that we will — and are privileged to be — His people.