Great and Incomprehensible Things

Jeremiah 33:1-9.

Everyone loves secrets. We like to be told things in confidence that no one else knows. Secrets make us feel special.

When I was a part of the WCG 30 years ago I felt special because I thought I knew things about the end times and God’s plan that nobody else knew.

In time I came to learn that what I thought was God’s revealed truth was actually just a bunch of lies made up by power-seeking men.

But even though I was lied to it is true that God does in fact reveal secrets to people.

Jeremiah 33:3 CSB

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know.

When I came to realize the truth the first thing I realized was just how much I didn’t know. And the truth that God’s ways are mysterious and sometimes incomprehensible is a lesson I hope I never forget.

The word “incomprehensible” means inaccessible, impregnable, unsearchable. Like a fortress built inside of a fortress the only way you’re going to get in is if the door is opened for you.

Many of things of God are still out of reach and we just don’t know what we don’t know. So we should approach the things of God with humility.

Romans 11:34 CSB

For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?

No one.

So when God invites us, as he did with Jeremiah, to learn more about him we should jump at the chance but we should do so with humility.

God told Jeremiah to call on him in order to receive answers about secret, incomprehensible things, which in itself is amazing, but that doesn’t mean we know all there is to know...

Deuteronomy 29:29 CSB

The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.

The hidden things belong to God and he reveals what he wants and he keeps other things a secret.

Now, the biggest secret God’s revealed is his plan for victory over sin through the death and resurrection Jesus Christ.

In other words, God has revealed to us the secret of the gospel. It was once hidden but now its been revealed and it belongs to us and our children forever—so that we may follow all the word of his law.

Now, this gospel was also revealed to Jeremiah although the word “gospel” wasn’t used. Nevertheless the fundamentals of the gospel have been around for thousands of years for those who have ears to hear.

Here in these 9 verses, God revealed three great and incomprehensible things to Jeremiah—three things that today we would call the gospel.

The first is something that we probably don’t want to dwell on that much, but understanding it is essential to understanding why the second and third points are such good news.

The first great and incomprehensible thing is that...

God will destroy all his enemies (4-5)

Here’s how God describes what happened to Jerusalem...

Jeremiah 33:5 CSB

The people coming to fight the Chaldeans will fill the houses with the corpses of their own men that I strike down in my wrath and fury. I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil.

This prophecy describers a gruesome scene, one that God himself takes responsibility for. In one sense he turns his back but in another he is the one directly responsible for the destruction of the people.

The wrath of God is incomprehensible to us. It’s a mystery that has been partly revealed but not fully. Why does it seems like the wicked get away with murder while those that are powerless suffer? Why does it seem like the world’s worst dictators live such long lives while the good die young?

The Bible has some answers but they aren’t always as satisfying as we’d like because God’s justice is beyond our full comprehension. Paul says it well...

Romans 11:33 CSB

Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways!

Yet, much has been revealed about God’s plan to destroy his enemies. We know for a fact that in the end everyone will be held accountable for all their sins, including me and you. Every sinful, idolatrous thought and deed will be judged by God on that final day of Judgement. No sin will go unpunished.

And the Bible describes the punishment for sin in the most horrifying terms imaginable. It uses words like eternal fire, fiery furnace, weeping and gnashing of teeth, lake of burning sulfur, and many other equally horrifying descriptions that are attempts to describe a reality that is much worse than we can fully comprehend.

So we have a choice. We can either hang on to our sins by refusing to acknowledge them and repent— and suffer the punishment for sin ourselves— or we can take our sins to cross and give them to Jesus.

On the cross Jesus bore the punishment that we deserve for our sins. Those that believe and trust in Jesus won’t have to suffer eternally for their own sins because Jesus already has.

But remember this: every sin everyone has ever committed must be atoned for. Either we will atone for them personally or Jesus will. Obviously taking our sins to the cross is a much better choice.

Now, this leads to the second great and incomprehensible secret that God has revealed. We’ve already implied this second point but let’s make it more explicit...

God will forgive sin (8)

Yes, God will destroy all his enemies, which includes all who sin against him and refuse to take their sinfulness to Jesus, but he also promises to completely forgive those who once rebelled against him...

Jeremiah 33:8 CSB

I will purify them from all the iniquity they have committed against me, and I will forgive all the iniquities they have committed against me, rebelling against me.

Notice the completeness of the forgiveness in the three Hebrew words used to describe sin in this verse. There’s “iniquity” (singular), “iniquities” (plural), and “rebelling” which is often translated “transgressing”. While there are some helpful distinctions to be made between these similar words, the main point is that all types of sins will be forgiven. And this forgiveness will be a complete and thorough forgiveness.

Our sinful nature, the one we inherited from Adam, will be forgiven, but not just that. The specific sins of idolatry, adultery, murder, theft, coveting, etc. will also be forgiven. Every transgression or rebellion against God will be forgiven.

This is a great and incomprehensible thing.

Again, think about all the sins Israel had commited. They had committed literal and spiritual idolatry, adultery, hypocrisy, murder, infanticide, lying, abusing the weak, rejecting the truth, doubting God, stealing, worshiping Baal, breaking the covenant, and on and on.

And think about all of our sins. How long would it take for us to write down every sin we have ever committed? The list would go on and on and yet God offers compete and thorough forgiveness.

How? Through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. 1 John 1:7 says it’s “…the blood of Jesus his Son [that] cleanses us from all sin.”

And Eph 1:7 says in Jesus, “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”

God’s grace is greater than our sin so there is unlimited forgiveness for every kind of sin imaginable. Now this is a great and incomprehensible truth—it’s one that I don’t fully understand but it’s one that I fully accept as a glorious reality for those who trust in Christ.

The third great and incomprehensible thing that God told Jeremiah about is...

God will give health and healing (6-7)

This is a great gospel truth. After God forgives sin he doesn’t stop there. After forgiveness, God promises to give health and healing.

Jeremiah 33:6–7 CSB

Yet I will certainly bring health and healing to it and will indeed heal them. I will let them experience the abundance of true peace. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and of Israel and will rebuild them as in former times.

Forgiveness is great, but forgiveness with an abundance of health and peace is even better.

Someday our bodies will be completely healthy. That’s promise that we won’t fully realize in this lifetime but it’s going to happen. At the resurrection, our physical bodies will become like Christ’s glorified body. We will never have to worry about getting sick or dying every again.

And don’t forget that Jesus, himself, is our peace. When Jesus was born the angels sang in Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!”

Does God favor you? If you understand and embrace the gospel as revealed then he does. Do you have peace now? If you’re trusting in Christ then you have been forgiven and there is nothing more peaceful than that.

Jeremiah spent most of life warning of the false prophets who claimed “peace, peace” when there was no peace (Jer 6:14) and as long as we refuse to trust Jesus with our sins there’s no real peace for us. But once we trust in Jesus there is a peace that passes all understanding.

Philippians 4:7 says, don’t worry about anything, present your requests to God...

Philippians 4:7 CSB

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

…for all eternity. God gave a measure of peace to Judah and Israel when Jerusalem was rebuilt but he gives an even greater peace to Christians.

As Philip Ryken says, “Anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ for salvation has the peace of God. The Christian is at peace in the world because God is on his side. The Christian is at peace with himself because he is no longer troubled by a guilty conscience. And the Christian is at peace with God because Jesus Christ has accepted the punishment for sin and for sins.”

Christmastime is a time to think about the peace we have in Christ. It’s a time to think about the true joy and hope that we have from the gospel.

Thank God for what he’s revealed to us about the gospel. There’s so much we understand that other’s just don’t get yet but remember the gospel is so great it’s incomprehensible. We don’t fully appreciate God’s faithfulness to his people but we’re learning all the time.

Let’s stand and praise God for his great faithfulness, for his forgiveness of sin, and a peace that endures.