"When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied." (Isaiah 53: 11)
Emmanuel. It's such a comforting name, isn't it? God with us. To me, it's a name often associated with Christmas, when we celebrate the coming of God into our fallen world. But as we know, Christmas is only the beginning. There was a cost to the sweetness of Emmanuel--a bitter, bloody cost. As we commemorate Christ's death on the cross, it's sobering to remember the horrifying cost paid to tear open the veil, to make God with us a reality. God with us. He knew the cost, saw it laid out before Him. He knew He would be despised and rejected, a man acquainted with the deepest grief. He was under no obligation to us--sinful, rebellious man. He chose to come. He wanted to be God with us. He wanted us, wanted me, despite the cost. And the jealous passion of God's love carried His plan to completion. It is finished.
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Something I've been pondering this Advent is the intensity of God's love.
It's truly too much for this little brain to comprehend. How vast can His love be, that it never wavers in devotion? I'll be the first to admit I grieve Him constantly with my rebellion. We break His heart day after day, and He keeps loving us with an unchanging love. "Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands." (Isaiah 49:15, 16, NLT) God was speaking to Israel in those verses. The same mighty Warrior who through the prophet Nahum thundered to nations, "Behold, I am against thee!" loved Israel with the tender love of a mother. Surely if His anger is so terrifying, His love is equally impassioned. The capacity of an almighty God, unrestrained by time or space, to love is breathtaking. That's the Love that was seen by shepherds in a manger, the Love that healed the sick and fed the masses, the Love that gave Himself up for humanity, the Love that conquered the grave, the Love that's coming back one day on a white horse, resplendent in due majesty. "The greatest of these" triumphs because it's stronger, more fierce, than anything we know. But, of course, C. S. Lewis said it best. In one stunning line, he presents us with a Love that is good, but not safe: "It was fiery, sharp, bright and ruthless, ready to kill, ready to die, outspeeding light: it was Charity . . ." (That Hideous Strength, Chapter 15, "The Descent of the Gods") |
AuthorOld-fashioned, bookworm, tea-drinker, saved by grace Archives
May 2024
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