No, I'm NOT saying that God denied His own character. I am saying that God the Father denied His own great love for His Son, Jesus Christ, at the moment that Christ was dying for the payment of our sins on the cross. Why that is important is revealed in the comparison of God's love with our human love.
Parents love their children largely because they are part of themselves. The first time mother has likely had lots of other mothers describe to her the way she will feel differently after her first baby is born. But, these are only words. Once the horrible pain of labor is finally finished and her baby is first put upon her breast, almost without exception, a wellspring of love bursts open. It may be that the new mother has had a medical condition that interferred with the immediate bonding with her child. However, that bonding will occur sooner or later, unless some tragedy intervenes.
The father does not have that circumstance but does bond with the child because that is his own flesh and blood. Again, unless some tragedy intervenes. Both parents tend to be bonded together in a common wish for the benefits of their child. They may argue vehemently with each other over how their son or daughter should be raised. They each have a huge emotional stake in the life of their child.
In Psalm 22, the opening lines are also a quotation from Jesus Christ on the cross, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" And, later in the Psalm in verses 16, 17, and 18, "They pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me. They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots." These latter verses are identical to Gospel accounts of the crucifiction of Christ. These are all a testimony to God the Father turning His back on the welfare of His Son on our behalf.
However, God was as proud of His Son as humans are of theirs. The Father arranged for a star to stand still over the place where Christ was born. He sent angels to shepherds to announce His birth. He brought wise men from a far country to give homage to Christ and to give expensive gifts worthy to be given to a royal child. God spoke from heaven at the baptism of Christ by John. The Father would not allow His Son to preach without the accompanyment of miracle after miracle. The Father sent Elijah and Moses to be transfigured along with Jesus Christ before his apostles Peter, James and John. The Father testified to the importance of His Son's death with miracles and with a rich man giving his own tomb to be used for Christ's body. The Father saw to it that His Son was raised from the dead on the third day as foretold by the prophesy of Christ Himself. Yes, the Father passionately loved His Son.
Whereas people may deny their children's welfare for their own selfish benefit, God the Father denied the welfare of Christ for the benefit of you and me. Our human love is powerful and vital to our relationship with others. We are fulfilled when we love and are loved in return. But, our human love is also subject to human failure, to misunderstandings, to jealousy, to many other sad events.
His love for us is faithful, is forgiving, and is our motivation for loving Him in return. His love is expressed to us in the presence of the Holy Spirit that is birthed into our spirit when we accept Christ as our Savior. His love is the strength that enables us to love others when it is very difficult to love them. His love becomes the center of His presence within us that gives us joy and reason to worship, reason to hope, reason to face each new day. He proved His love for us once at Calvary. He proves His love for us each new time we seek Him and find Him with the faith He has provided. His love becomes the foundation of the very best part of our own character that we discover within ourselves.
As God the Father provided an example of denying Himself for our sakes, so we need to be prepared to deny our own selfish impulses to respond to His love in compliance with His code for our welfare, the Word of God. Obedience to the Word is not grievious for us. If we were striving to be on an athletic team, we would obey the directions of the coach in hopes of having playing time on the field, awards, and honor of approval. If we were pursuing a degree in college, we would obey the requirements to gain a grade, to finally graduate, to find acceptance by future colleagues. But, the coach, the professor, the colleague cannot and will not love us as our Father in heaven loves us. They cannot come close to the fruits of the love of God we find in relationship with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Yes, God did deny Himself for our sakes. That is extremely important for us, indeed.
The Holy Spirit and Grace and Grace and Grace
There once was this couple who were struggling with each other so much that neither one could see any way out of their misery but to get a divorce. They argued so often and so harshly that even their children, who were teenagers, told them that they should divorce. They had a dilemma though, they were both Christian. Because the Bible said that the only grounds for divorce was unfaithfulness, and since neither of them were, and since they both wanted to be true to their relationship with Christ, neither one was willing to actually begin divorce proceedings.
Finally, the husband thought, this is silly. If we just cannot get along, there is no use going down this road any further. So, he decided to go downtown the next day to the county court building and get the divorce paper work. That evening, as his wife lay sleeping on the couch and he was watching TV, he looked over at her and watched her sleep. He felt a warm love in his heart. But he also felt the fresh pain of an earlier argument when her words and harsh voice seem to feel like claws ripping his heart. He knew he had also said things that he knew would set her anger aflame. He knew that they both were just defending their own feelings and justifying their own priorities in each other's face. But he did not know any way out of this unending struggle except to end the struggle.
The next day, the husband found himself in line at the divorce papers desk in the county building. When he got to the front of the line he found himself asking the clerk, "If I divorce my wife, can I somehow make sure that she still get's the medical coverage from my company's plan?" The clerk looked up in surprise as if to say, "Why ask such a question? Aren't you divorcing her?" What the clerk actually said was, "I suppose so." When he left with the papers, he found himself asking himself the same question that the clerk seemed to ask with his facial expression. "Why did I ask such a question if I intend to divorce her? I must still love her enough to take care of her." The husband eventually threw the divorce papers away.
Some time later, the husband and wife were saying goodbye. He was going on a sales trip from their home in Fresno, California, to San Bernardino. The wife looked up from the dining table with a sad face. She expressed a love and yet a concern about their future together. He said his goodbye and got into his station wagon loaded with the textbooks he sold.
All along the way down route 99 to Bakersfield the husband was again fighting himself with mixed emotions of love and anger toward his wife. He was sometimes hoping that she would divorce him. He was sometimes thinking that he had to divorce her. He made the turn off of route 99 to go east on route 58. He was driving past a small town called Weedpatch. Then a sudden impression struck him. This was not his conscience. He knew how that felt in his senses. This was the Holy Spirit speaking to his spirit.
The Holy Spirit simply said, "If you divorce her, you divorce me." Wow! The husband took the next exit off of the freeway. He found a public phone at a convenience store and called his wife.
She answered and in a firm voice simply said, "What is it?" The husband replied, "I'm not leaving no matter what." She said, "How are we ever going to make it?" He said, "Grace and grace and grace." That ended the phone call.
They finally found a moment in time where the husband stood up for his wife in such a manner that she never again questioned his love for her. That matter is so private that it remains a secret today. However, it is no secret that today they are both in love with each other more than ever in their married life of just about 40 years.
Posted at 05:09 PM in personal stories and comments | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)