I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked

'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked'

— Ezekiel 33: 11

‘As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked: but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?’ Do you see it? God has sworn that he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. It is true God will, God must punish sin. His law, his justice and his righteousness demand it. But God’s law, justice and righteousness can never find pleasure or satisfaction in the eternal death of the ungodly. Indeed, if all the race of Adam were to suffer the eternal fires of hell, God’s righteous justice could never find pleasure and satisfaction. Man, who is but a finite creature, can never satisfy the claims of infinite justice. If this were possible, the fires of hell must some day burn out. But infinite justice demands an infinite satisfaction. Hell must therefore be eternal! God’s justice can never be satisfied in the death of the wicked. He has no pleasure in the death of him that dieth.

But God does have pleasure in the death of the sinner’s Substitute, Jesus Christ. Being the infinite God, our Lord Jesus Christ was able to satisfy all the claims of infinite justice. Being the sinless man, he was able to stand in our room and bear the fullness of God’s wrath for us. In his incarnation, his birth, his life and his death, the Lord God beholds Christ as the Substitute of his people and says, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ In the death of the God-man, God’s law, justice and righteousness have pleasure and satisfaction. Therefore there is no possibility of one soul for whom Christ died perishing in hell. The law has no claim against a believing sinner!

It is God’s pleasure, for Christ’s sake, to be merciful. He gives life to perishing sinners and forgives all our sins for Christ’s sake. So, then, why will ye die? Turn now and seek the Lord, cry out for his mercy and trust his Son. Only in Christ does God have any pleasure. Lay hold of God’s Beloved now.