Something a special speaker said at our church a couple weeks ago really jumped out at me and touched my heart, amazing and humbling me. Take a moment to think through the following with me….
Sin separates us from God (Is. 59:2). Why? Because the holy, righteous God cannot dwell in the presence of sin. The brightness of His perfect character would immediately consume the sin and the sinner if brought into direct contact. In light of this, it would have been perfectly logical for God to withdraw Himself from His people after they sinned, to remove Himself as far from them as possible, to depart and leave them to their fate. But He didn’t! Quite the contrary, He drew near to His people, shrouding Himself in a cloud to protect them from His consuming brightness. He sent His son, who willingly laid aside His glory and came in our human form so that we could see a face-to-face representation of the Father (John 14:9). Even more important, through His Son He made way for us to be freed from sin, so that one day we can dwell with Him for all eternity, perfected in righteousness, and able to meet with Him face-to-face (Rev. 22:3-4)!
What love! That the God of the universe would not abandon us when we went astray. That He would draw near to and make His home with sinful man. That He would willingly veil His glory in order to be near to us. That He would willingly give up His only Son. That He could love us that much!
Sarah E. Brown 