“He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our
iniquities. 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.” Psalm 103:9-12
David “got it.” David understood God's mercy – his withholding the punishment that is due us – proclaiming, “... he does not treat us as our sins deserve...” And David understood God's grace – his granting us favor that we do not deserve: “... so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
From his descriptions, it would seem that David also “got” geometry! A “ray” is a line with a start point, but no end point ... much like God's love for us, so great as to reach from the earth eternally into the heavens! And in this love, God has removed our sins from us as far as east is from west ... as if on a “line,” a geometric figure that is straight and infinitely long in both directions.
And at the intersection of this vertical ray of love and this horizontal line of forgiveness stands the cross of Jesus the Christ. For it is in him that the Father’s love for us and his forgiveness of us meet for all time. He is the Son of God who came down from the heavens because of his great love for us. It is he who cried out on behalf of his tormentors, "Father, forgive them...", his arms stretched out in eternally opposite directions.
Our sins are removed from us – forever gone and infinitely far. It is the work of the Son of God, finished for all time. And in the sufficiency of that work, we rest. We are at peace with God. It is his doing.
Ours is only to trust and be glad.
David “got it.” David understood God's mercy – his withholding the punishment that is due us – proclaiming, “... he does not treat us as our sins deserve...” And David understood God's grace – his granting us favor that we do not deserve: “... so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
From his descriptions, it would seem that David also “got” geometry! A “ray” is a line with a start point, but no end point ... much like God's love for us, so great as to reach from the earth eternally into the heavens! And in this love, God has removed our sins from us as far as east is from west ... as if on a “line,” a geometric figure that is straight and infinitely long in both directions.
And at the intersection of this vertical ray of love and this horizontal line of forgiveness stands the cross of Jesus the Christ. For it is in him that the Father’s love for us and his forgiveness of us meet for all time. He is the Son of God who came down from the heavens because of his great love for us. It is he who cried out on behalf of his tormentors, "Father, forgive them...", his arms stretched out in eternally opposite directions.
Our sins are removed from us – forever gone and infinitely far. It is the work of the Son of God, finished for all time. And in the sufficiency of that work, we rest. We are at peace with God. It is his doing.
Ours is only to trust and be glad.
No comments:
Post a Comment