So I was reading John 1:11 today, where John writes that Jesus "...came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him." His own. That's us, you know. I just think that's crazy. God is so holy, so perfect, so powerful, but He's not so high as to be unassociated with us. He calls us "His own."
That's incredible to me. That an all-powerful God would associate Himself with lowly mankind. That we belong to Him. He claims us, even proudly (Job 1:8). It's just mindboggling to think of an unfathomably infinite God desiring connection with us, but not just a shallow, impersonal connection--a deep, intimate relationship. If this weren't true, He never would have sent His Son to die for us.
We are not separated from Him. He is not too far away or above. After all, we are made in His image. How crazy is that?! Think about it: He could have made any creature He wanted. He could have created some majestic unicorn or some towering colossi, and everyone would have agreed that this creature was magnificent. But He put His imprint on us! He personalized us so specifically that He made us in His likeness. Not even the angels can claim this. More than simply putting His stamp of approval on us, like an artist signing their painting, He ingrained within us something so personal and extraordinary we'll probably never fully understand it.
Isn't this why we seek after the things of the world so passionately? It is because our souls, which remember the days before the fall, before we lost that close intimacy with our Creator, cry out for something to fill that void. But without Jesus we simply grasp hold of whatever we can find.
So when Jesus came to this world He became like us--those He calls His own--to bring a light into this blind depravity. Oh, how it must have broken His heart when His own did not receive Him. I think if you want proof of His love, consider the fact that He died in spite of this.
So good. That really ties in with some of what God has been speaking to me about lately: the God that created the UNIVERSE and holds everything in a delicate balance; the God Who commands the oceans and seasons, the wind, the rain, the lightning and the stars in their courses-- this SAME God created each one of us, loves us and knows us intimately (every hair, every thought, every moment of our lives kind of intimate). In spite of all of our failures, all of the ways we have and will let Him down, and our shortsightedness when it comes to life and eternity, He CHOSE us. He totally could have started over when Adam and Eve blew it. He has the power. YET, He still chose DEATH ON A CROSS to save us rather than to start things over with some new creation. That's huge. Infinite, omnipotent God is personally with us-- in our hearts. Phenomenal cosmic power-- itty bitty living space.
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