One Truly Amazing Act

I want to share with you what was for me a very profound thought, or series of thoughts, that I had today. A thought that I believe was given or directed, by the Holy Spirit (a big claim I know, but I don't think I could have come up with this on my own). I'm not sure how well I'll be able to put this into words; hopefully I will be able to accurately convey the thought(s) I had.

First, a little background to set the stage. Over the last month and a half, I've been slowly making my way through A.W. Tozer's "Knowledge of the Holy". One of the attributes or characteristics of God is His infinitude - He has no limits. This goes hand in hand with His power - His power knows no limits.

Alright, back to my story. On my commute home tonight I was listening to our local K-Love Christian radio station. They have these 60-second, "Parable Big Change Moments" on once a day (or at least I only hear it once a day). I don't remember what the point of today's was but it used Daniel in the lions' den as an illustration. The narrator mentioned how King Darius was a witness to the amazing act of God in closing the mouths of the lions.

I started thinking about what an amazing God we have who could shut the mouths of lions. Then the thought occurred to me that the act was only amazing from my human view point, because it is something that no human could do. But stepping out from the bonds of humanity's finiteness and looking at it from God's perspective (not that I can really know what God's perspective is), this act did not require any effort on God's part. He willed it and it was done. He did not have to strain, did not break a sweat and did not have to wonder if it would work. His power knows no limits and therefore doing this miracle took nothing more than an act of His will and cost Him nothing - no effort, no work and no energy.

Then I started to think about other amazing miracles and acts of God in the Bible, such as healings, the man who came back to life after touching Elisha's bones, the sun moving back on the stairs, the sun standing still, fire and brimstone falling on Sodom and Gomorrah, the parting of the Red Sea and finally, the act of creation. All of these are amazing and awesome to us and God should receive praise and glory and honor for them. Yet they all took no effort on His part and cost Him nothing.

It was after thinking over all of this that a very profound thought came into my mind - the one truly amazing act that our all-powerful God has done is the redemption of mankind. In this act God gave of Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. It cost Him His Son and it cost Jesus His life. It was a sacrifice. A sacrifice which He did not have to make but did so out of love.

1 John 4:9-10 (NIV)
^"9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (NIV)
^"3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. ⁶After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born."

John 1:14 (NIV)
^"14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

I hope no one has been offended by this post and feels that I have been disrespectful to the wondrous works of God. I have tried my best to avoid the appearance of that, for that is the last thing I would want to do. For me, His works have not been diminished in the least, just put into perspective - what I can best imagine as God's perspective of His acts. We have such an awesome, powerful and big God and I am frequently guilty of, in my mind, making Him less than He really is. The workings of God and His miracles are amazing to us and we should praise Him for them. However, they pale in comparison to the one truly amazing act of self-sacrifice performed by God to redeem His sinful creation. I feel awed and humbled by this truth.

Thank you Father God and Lord Jesus for mankind's redemption. To You be the glory, honor and praise.