Image by Horia Varlan via FlickrImmense Love.God loves each one of us with immense love. Our vocation is to love God in return. We love God by trying to do his holy will. God's love for us is shown in his taking of Himself and sending that part of Himself as "His Son" down to earth. This representation of him became man, to bring his Love, and the Message of how we his Children should reach our eternal glory in heaven with him, "God so loved the world that he gave..." (John3:16). Christ's life and sacrifice is not a way of atoning to God for our sins, to be on our side, but it is God's way of winning us to his side. God satisfied his own just requirements by taking the sentence and punishment on himself. God initiates the reconciliation between himself and his Children. Action is necessary to prove that his love for us does not mean that we cannot hurt ourselves and God by our rejection of him, and not expect justice. And yet he will provide us a Father's forgiveness. God can be angry because he loves; He cares, and punishes in order to help, to end humanities hurting itself by the way we act, and to set us on to the right and proper method of living, or in other words training for our future glory.
Just as any good "Father," God wants to see a change in his children. But as any Father knows there must be penalties for incorrect action, there must be a correcting of the way and a satisfaction of the wrong (making up for the wrong). Christ suffered and died to make up for the wrongs we do. This is why God can forgive and not impose any action, that satisfies the wrong (make's up for it); that was done to his Love, our progress and the relationship to his Family.
The fourth Gospel (John's) provides us a good introduction to this concept. He does this through calling God the Son's movement through time, God's "Word" and "Light."
(John 1:1-18)
"Before the world was created, the Word already existed; he was with God, and he was the same as God. Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.
"God sent his messenger, a man named John, who came to tell people about the light, so that all should hear the message and believe. He himself was not the light; he came to tell about the light. This was the real light - the light that comes into the world and shines on all mankind.
"The Word was in the world, and through god made the world through him, yet the world did not recognize him. He came to his own country, but his own people did not receive him. Some, however , did receive him and believed in him; so he gave them the right to become God's children. They did not become God's children by natural means, that is, by being born as the children of a human father; God himself was their Father.
"The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father's only Son.
"John spoke about him. He cried out, "This is the one I was talking about when I said, 'He comes after me, but he is greater than I am, because he existed before I was born.'"
"Out of the fullness of his grace he has blessed us all, giving us one blessing after another. God gave the Law through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is the same as God and is at the Father's side, he has made him known."
What strikes you most about Jesus in this passage? Why?
No comments:
Post a Comment