To God be the glory. When I reflect on the nature of God as expressed in these verses, I am struck by the power of His love. Throughout my life as a husband and father I have witnessed how God, in spite of my waywardness and selfishness, reached out to me not with condemnation but with compassion. This all-powerful God, fully justified in His anger at my sin and fully capable of repaying me as those sins deserved, chose mercy over justice. Why? Because of the cross: “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
These verses express a beautiful image of the cross and what it symbolizes. “As high as the heavens are above the earth” – picture the vertical beam of the cross with the image of God’s steadfast love for us coming down from heaven in the form of His son Jesus – Immanuel, God with us – bringing the hope of peace and reconciliation with the Father.
“As far as the east is from the west” – picture in these words the horizontal beam of the cross where Jesus’ arms are stretched out to all with the promise of forgiveness that only His sacrifice could make possible. This is the power of God expressed through the nature of His love.
It is this love which I can testify saved a family and brought new sons and daughters to glory, and it is this love that can do the same for all who call upon Jesus’ name. |
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