18 To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Is 40:18.
21 Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
23 who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Is 40:21–23.
“In an incomprehensible reversal of all righteous and pious thinking, God declares himself guilty to the world and thereby extinguishes the guilt of the world. God himself takes the humiliating path of reconciliation and thereby sets the world free. God wants to be the guilty of our guilt and takes upon himself the punishment and suffering that this guilt brought to us. God stands in for godlessness, love stands in for hate, the Holy One for the sinner.”
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, and Jana Riess. God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas. Westminster John Knox Press, 2012.
Abba,
No matter how much our minds comprehend the truth of these statements, the reality of it remains a mystery.
And in this mystery, we simply bow in worship and revel in wonder!
You are good! You are glorious!
That You would bear our guilt, in our place…this will be the mystery of eternity that will draw our worship and devotion to You.
Thank You, Jesus, for coming. Thank You for bearing my guilt and shame. Thank You for loving me. Thank you for being incomprehensible. Thank you for coming near to the likes of me.
The wonder and mystery that You are will forever draw my heart to You.
I love You!
Amen.
A Singular Passion 