Podcast Introduction Our reading today is Ezekiel 31-36.  Afterwards, I’ll have some thoughts to share with you. I’m calling today’s episode “Then You Will Know.” Comments on Ezekiel 31-36 Have you noticed a recurring phrase here in Ezekiel? If you haven’t, you haven’t been listening. Sure, it’s God saying, “Then they will know that I am the Lord.” One of the time tested, successful teaching methods is repetition, right? The more often you hear information, the more likely it is that you will remember it. The more often you repeat a skill, the better you will get at performing that skill.  “Then they will know that I am the Lord.” Or sometimes God says, “Then you will know that I am the Lord.” Time and time again God says this. Why? Why does He put so much emphasis on this? Why does He need to have us know that He is God? Is it an ego thing? Does He need to be the most popular guy in the universe? Is he going for the most “Likes”? Let’s think for a moment about what we know about His plan. We know that before anything was created, I AM. (Not me, but God.) And I did not misspeak. Not God WAS. God is outside of time. He is always past, present and future. That’s why when Jesus talked of Himself, He said, “I AM.” So before anything was created, God exists. Because He is the God of creation, He created the universe and all that is in it. And He created mankind. Why did He do that? Because God is also Love. God wanted to love His creation and be loved by HIs creation. And because love involves choice, or free will, mankind was given the ability to choose to love or reject God.  God is Holy and perfect. By definition, He is without sin. Sin causes a separation from God. Mankind chose to sin, so God’s desire to have a loving relationship with man necessitated a way for the sin problem to be dealt with. Another of God’s characteristics is Justice. He is a just God. He could not ignore the sin. There had to be a way for the sin to be acknowledged by and answered for, or made reparation for, or punished. “Steve,” you say, “if God is love, why couldn’t He just ignore the sin? Why couldn’t He just forgive without demanding punishment?” There are at least two reasons. The first reason is because of the Justice part of God that we have already mentioned. The second is that ignoring sin is not love.  If, as a father, I told my toddler to stay out of the street, knowing that a car might come along and run him over, and then saw him wander into the street, willingly ignoring me, would it be love for me to ignore his disobedience? Of course not. So God made a way for mankind’s sin to be dealt with. The ultimate act of love was for God’s only Son to take the sin of the world on Himself, and He paid the price for my sin and yours. He was put to the most cruel death that mankind has yet devised.  And then, on the third day, He was raised from death to life. Why? “So that they would know that I am the Lord.” Over and over again, throughout the centuries, God’s message is, “I am the Lord”. Why? So that we will know who He is and what He has done in order to bring us into a loving relationship with Him. Have you accepted God’s gift of forgiveness? Do you know without a shadow of a doubt that you will spend eternity in Heaven? Hoping that your good deeds will outweigh your bad deeds is not the answer. You can’t earn your way to Heaven. One sin disqualifies you. The wages of sin is death. But Jesus died so you don’t have to. He offers forgiveness for