The Heart of our Lord

The breast plate of judgement as described in Exodus 28:15 is a picture of the Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, who holds us in His precious heart. It demonstrates that the Lord does not perceive us as sinners, but as precious gems in His Heart.

Each gem is of a different color, and has a different name inscribed on it which cannot be erased. This shows that the Lord does not love us collectively, but rather He loves us individually. It is called the “breast plate of judgement” because, judgement exposes the truth. In other words, when the light of Jesus falls upon us, we shine as precious gems, as the Lord's children. The Bible says:

"I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well" - Psalms 139:14

When we sin, the Lord does not pluck out the gem which has our name from His Heart and throw it away, but rather, He polishes the gem. In other words, He corrects us when we sin, so that we would shine as children of the Most High God. The Bible says:

"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth" - Hebrews 12:6

Our Lord Jesus is not kneeling down before the throne of God, interceding for us. Jesus's very presence itself is an intercession for us. Which is why He is seated at the right hand of God the Father because of His "Finished" work on the cross. When God the Father looks at us, in Christ Jesus, washed in His precious Blood, He sees the Blood and declares us righteous. The Bible says:

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" - 2 Corinthians 5:21

In the Old Testament, we must repent first and then God blesses us. In the New Testament, the Lord blesses us first and His Grace leads us into repentance. In Luke 5, we find Peter, fishing all night long, and had caught nothing. When our Lord Jesus took him out fishing again, they caught such a huge amount of fish that their nets began to break. Experiencing the Grace of the Lord, Peter went on his knees and said "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8). "Grace is undeserved and unmerited favor, and Grace produces true repentance".

In the parable of the prodigal son, we see the father running to the son, which is the picture of our Heavenly Father who rejoices in us. Even before the son could confess, the father "ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him" (Luke 15:20). When the son confessed saying "I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son" (Luke 15:21), it was as though the father was least bothered of what his son was saying, and was busy rejoicing over his son, where he put a robe on him, a ring on his hand, shoes on his feet, and killed the fatted calf for celebration as seen in Luke 15:22-23. Technically, according to the law of Moses, such a son need to be brought to the elders of the city, unto the gates of his place, where ultimately he will be stoned to death, thereby putting the evil away, where all of Israel shall hear and fear, as stated in Deuteronomy 21:18-21. The parable of the prodigal son shows that the Lord's Heart is not towards condemning you and I, but rather His Heart delights in loving us.

In the parable of the lost sheep, our Lord Jesus describes about a shepherd in Luke 15:4, who leaves the 99 behind and goes looking for that one lost sheep. No shepherd does that apart from our "Good Shepherd". He says and when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Jesus further explains by saying:

I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. - Luke 15:7

But when did the sheep repent? The sheep repented when it allowed itself to be found, when it allowed itself to be picked up by the Good Shepherd, and when it rested on the mighty shoulders of the Good Shepherd. The Shepherd whom our Lord Jesus was describing in this parable was none other than Himself. When Jesus said "joy shall be in heaven" he was not referring to the angels rejoicing, but He was describing God the Father rejoicing.

We see Jesus as the Good Shepherd, going to Samaria, just to save one woman who has had five husbands and was committing adultery with another man. Jesus sat at the well, waiting for her, under the hot afternoon sun. When she came, He offered her the free gift of Grace, which caused her to repent. Repentance in the New Testament, which was originally written in Greek, is the word "metanoia", which means "change of heart". The Bible says:

"To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation" - 2 Corinthians 5:19

There is no sin of man, that can be greater than the Love of our Lord Jesus, which He had demonstrated on the Cross of Calvary. The Cross of Jesus is not a picture of our sins, but rather it is a picture of His abundant forgiveness and Grace upon us. If there is a great sin in our life, His Love for us is greater. This is the reason Apostle Paul says:

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:37-39

This shows that we are complete in Christ, and because of which the Lord will not impute sin upon us. The Bible says:

"Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile" - Psalm 32:2

"Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" - Romans 4:8

It also assures that our salvation is secure in Christ and it can never be lost, because, we are the righteousness of God in Christ, and He is all together lovely.