The anticipation of Christ's coming invites you and me to reflect upon the love the Father demonstrates or reveals to humanity. And what kind of love is that?
A love that sends.
A love that mends.
A love that blesses.
A love that stretches.
A love that enlightens.
A love that strengthens.
George Matheson calls it a love that will not let us go, one whereupon we can rest our weary souls; one to whom we owe our very lives; one in whose ocean depths the flow of our very lives may grow richer and fuller; one that seeks us through pain and promises us a tearless morning.
Alexander Means deems it wondrous:
"What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul,
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!
The apostle John who felt bold and secure enough to rest his head upon the bosom of Christ describes it in the following terms -- "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10, ESV).
What about us?
How do we describe love?
How do we see the face of Christ in the humdrum of life on this earth?
How do our hearts perceive and receive the Coming One sent to sacrifice Himself on our behalf?
Does the darkness of frustrations, heartaches, pressures, diseases, addictions, and betrayals point us to the Light of the world who stepped down to open our eyes and set us free? Does the sting of apathy, lovelessness, and aloneness drive our hearts to await Immanuel, the Lover of our souls who is always with us? Does the weight of our blunders, mishaps, blemishes, and trespasses point us to the Lifter of our heads, the substitutionary Lamb who takes away the collective sin of the world?
If not for His blinding yet beautiful light, we would be the ones that keep walking in darkness. If not for His omnipresence, we would die in loneliness and shame. If not for His forgiveness and righteousness, we could never presume to enter the Holy of holies and commune with the Father in His holiness.
That rhetoric inspired Elvina M. Hall to pen these most endearing lyrics:
"Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow."
THAT is love.
That is the hand of Christ.
That is the beautiful love anthem of Jesus, the One who was and is and is to come.
"O come, let us adore Him!
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