reflections on the love that changes everything
All of God’s benefits to us—all the healing, redeeming, crowning, satisfying, and renewing he does within us—all spring forth from the forgiveness he accomplished for us through the life, death, and resurrection of God the Son, Jesus Christ. Only by embracing the incomprehensible vastness of our forgiveness can we fully inhabit the vast territory of our salvation.
And that is how a muted, broken soul finds its voice again — not by working up a confidence we don’t have, but by trusting the God whose righteousness has already been proven, in public, on our behalf: first at the Red Sea, and then at an empty tomb outside Jerusalem.
Jesus is telling us that our fears reveal the areas where our faith is lacking, and it’s God’s power to calm the storm that strengthens the faith he gives us in our feeble hearts. The king who rules over creation gives us his power to stand firm in the chaos and glorify him with our lives.
The reality of our guilt is not a matter of debate…. But what we do with our guilt depends in large part on the perception of God that we have in our heart. When we believe that God truly loves us and has our best interests at heart, we do what David does and openly bring our guilt to God.
On a cross outside Jerusalem, Jesus suffered what we deserve so he could give us what he deserves: unconditional love, grace, and acceptance by his heavenly Father; life with God that lasts forever; and a destiny in paradise, where all creation, including us, will be fully healed and restored.
The blessed life is not something we achieve. It is something God is already growing in us. Because the One who is the Living Water has come near. Jesus Christ — the Word made flesh, the true Tree of Life, the One whose roots go down into eternity — has stepped into our world of drift and weightlessness. He has taken on our chaff-like tendencies, our wandering hearts, our shallow roots. And in His death and resurrection, He has given us His life, His strength, His rootedness.
