Basking in His Glory

I want you to imagine that you grew up in a culture where they believed in a god that was considered a single, solitary, figure. All that you could really know about this divine being was that it was completely set apart from you. In order to appease this god you would need to offer ritualistic sacrifices, follow through with the traditions of your people, and do everything possible to ensure that you did not give it any reason to rail down judgement upon your family or nation. This culture does not allow for much freedom. You constantly live by a list of do's and don'ts. Just to make sure that you stay in line, there is a group of people that has been given the authority to keep you in check. You constantly live in fear. Although you are grateful that your life has been preserved, and that your nation has been blessed, you never really know what could happen next.

Now I want you to imagine that someone steps into that culture that talks about God quite differently. He seems to have some real insight. You listen as He deconstructs everything you believed to be true. He offers a completely new way of life and a new understanding of God. He talks about love, forgiveness, mercy, and abundant life. Can you trust Him? Can God (whom He calls Father) be as good as He claims? Can you change the way you believe?

I want you to imagine these things because they can't even come close to describing the beauty, the wonder, and the mystery of the Gospel.

Over the last 20+ years, I have dedicated my life to studying, understanding, and communicating the Good News. I have looked into the different theories regarding atonement, salvation, reconciliation, and redemption. I have sought to understand them to the best of my ability. However, with all of my studying, I just don't get it. It just seems to me that the Father is so far removed from the caricature of Him that we painted in our understanding. We discover in the Abba of Jesus the Creator and Lover of all life. We are introduced to a truly Merciful, Compassionate, and Good God who longs to reconcile us to Himself. Does that make any sense?

Could you in your wildest dreams imagine a God who would stoop down to our level?
Could you you even consider God being this good?
Could we have conjured up a God who was willing to take our abuse, our rejection, and our absolute denial of Him and still offer us life?
Could it be that God is nothing like we have imagined?
If this is true. If God is completely different than we have imagined. Then maybe there are a lot of things that we have misunderstood.

George MacDonald put it this way (a friend of mine just shared this quote with me):
"How did it even come to be imagined? It sprang from the dread of those that can't believe in the forgiveness of the Father; can't believe that even God will do something for nothing; can't trust Him without a legal arrangement to bind Him. How many, failing to trust God, fall back on a text, as they call it! It sprang from the pride of those who try to understand what they can't, before they will obey what they see. Those who try to understand first will believe a lie; a lie that only obedience can deliver them from. To anyone who says, 'But I believe what you despise,' I would say, To believe it is your punishment for being able to believe it; you can call it your reward if you want. You ought not be able to believe it."

If the Gospel has lost its wonder, it may be time to lose our rationalization and simply bask in its glory.

"We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy we kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don't have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way...
THAT HE LOVES US!" ~ John Mark McMillan