In Isaiah 66.3 we see that people have chosen their own way. God calls it an abomination. It is not the way God has revealed. Even following the patterns God has prescribed but without repentance is not acceptable. If we try to build God's kingdom in the way that we have devised it is abhorrent to our Lord.
It is in fact the Lord who brings his kingdom. he is the one who has redeemed people from his own wrath, purchasing a people out of his righteous judgment to be a people pleasing to him. It is through Christ's sacrifice, not ours, that we have obtained mercy. It is through Christ's obedience, not ours, that we are called obedient children of our heavenly father.
This is not something we would devise. It comes only from God's self-revelation. God is angry with our sin so he pours out his wrath, but pours it out on himself. God requires death for sin so he dies, in the person of his son, Jesus Christ. God promises to adopt and provide for a people he has chosen, so he makes them adoptable. All this is not what we are able to do, but entirely what he does. This is the Gospel of our Lord.
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