The Father's Love

I miss my son. I miss him a lot. It will be months before I see him again, and maybe that long before I hear his voice. Sometimes the longing is palpable. It is a measurable pain at the bottom of my throat. I miss him.


So what is God teaching me thru this? How can I look at this thru the lens of the gospel? Well, there are many lessons. Let’s take this one at a time.

There is another Father, my heavenly Father who is in love with his son. It is a perfect love borne from perfect unity. He decided that it was best to deploy His Son for a battle that is greater than any war we can ever imagine. It was the battle between people and sin. He sent His Son to be our champion, to defeat sin for us.

To do this, he needed to be separate from his Son, the Son that he loved so much, and to send Him to a dark and dirty place. I miss my son, but I can only imagine how much the Father missed his son when he sent Jesus to earth to pay for my sin.

So, the simple first step is to meditate on the love of God that is so great, so intense, so devoted that he would sacrifice that time with his Son by sending him here. My selfish mind cannot wrap itself around that kind of sacrifice. Perfect love, giving up itself for others. That Trinitarian unity being broken for me.

But that is what makes the good news so good. This is direct, observable evidence of God’s unfailing grace extended for me. Such love. Such sacrifice, such self-denial.

Are you a "Christian?

Seems like a simple question. But the origin of the words put greater demands on our answer.

The early followers of Christ were given the them "Christian" by outsiders. It was meant as a slight. Literally it meant "little Christs". In essence they were saying, 'so you want to be a little Jesus, a goody two-shoes, a holy roller." As Paul preached to Agrippia, he parroted these sentiments in Acts 26:28, "In a short time would you convince me to be a Christian?" Agrippa was almost mocking Paul. "You? Preach to me? And to lower myself to be part of your club of Christians?"

But the early church adopted this term. Did they want to be little Christs? Did they want to imitate Christ (1 Corintihans 11:1, Ephesians 5:1, 1 Thes 1:6)? Absolutely! With all their heart, soul and strength.

Lord, deliver me from the weight that drags me down and the sin that ensnares and help me to imitate you in your humility, mercy, obedience, gentleness and grace.

Our True Size

Each time we look at the cross Christ seems to be saying to us, “I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.” Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.

John Stott, As Each Day Begins