What Christ do we love?
The one in the manger? Or maybe we carry an image of Jesus calling the children unto him. Then there’s the hand of our Savior healing the eyes of the blind man. We can’t forget the compassion of our Lord for the widow’s only son. Jesus touched the funerary bier, and the youth lived again.
Do we love the back of Jesus’ hand, the one that corrects us when we’re wrong?
Jeremiah 22:24 is painful to read:
“As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off…”
Romans 3:23 goes against our grain:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
John 8:44 crushes us:
“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
These passages tell of our Lord, also. He’s not just the hand of compassion. His love forces him to correct us when we stray, and to set us back on the true path once again.
Even so, Isaiah 7:14 speaks of the tenderness that emanates from the heart of God:
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 reveals the upwelling of love he carries for us:
“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
2 Peter 3:9 astonishes us with the depths of his compassion:
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
Christ is the manger child and the hand of healing. He’s also the hand of correction that brings love to bear, correcting our errant ways, so that we can follow after him. All these are the Christ we love.
Turnaround love that redirects our feet away from sin is the best love there is.
Copyright © 2016 MyChurchNotes.net
Code: FGO.D.11.16d.vp.esv