November 30

A ruin, a ruin, I will make it a ruin! And it will not be restored until the arrival of Him to whom it belongs, to whom I have assigned the right of judgment.’ — Ezek 21:27 BSB

“Destruction! Destruction! I will surely destroy the kingdom. And it will not be restored until the one appears who has the right to judge it. Then I will hand it over to him.” Ezekiel 21:27

There is one coming, “whose right it is.” There is a King who has the right to the throne, and the right to the loyalty of his subjects—he has the right to all they are and all they have. But where does this right come from? The text says, “until he comes whose right it is.” First, it is his right by original gift from the Father, who gave all the elect to the Son. Jesus says, “Here am I, and the children you have given me,” and “All that the Father gives me will come to me.” Therefore, Jesus has a right to our very selves, and by that same original gift, he also has the right to our hearts and affections.

But he has another right—by purchase and redemption. He redeemed his people with his own blood, laying down his life for them, and thereby purchased them. He established his right to them by paying the full and complete price upon the cross. Jesus exercises this twofold right every time he claims one of his people whom he has purchased. He makes this claim when the Holy Spirit enters a soul to arrest and bring them to his feet, where he is enthroned as King and Lord over their affections.

We must remember that Christ has the right to possess the heart, with all its affections. "He will not give his glory to another," and he will not allow what belongs to him to be handed over to someone else. He isn’t satisfied with simply having a right to the persons of his people—he must have their hearts as well. And when he exercises this right to claim our affections, he will rule supremely, allowing no rival, no cooperation with self in any form. He alone must be King and Lord over the heart.

Where is the soul before Christ comes into it with power, sweetness, beauty, and preciousness? It is nothing but a heap of ruins. No one has ever known the true preciousness of Christ unless their soul was first a heap of ruins, and unless self had been torn down. No one has ever truly longed for the Lord to visit their heart with salvation or to experience the power of his resurrection and the glory of his righteousness unless they were first ruined before God, with their self demolished to the point that no human power could rebuild the structure or restore the soul.