Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground

For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Romans 3:23-26

Has anyone ever given you a gift or showed you unwarranted kindness? What sort of feelings did it inspire? When my girlfriend goes out of her way to make me coffee to help keep me awake for a long drive or cooks me dinner and cooks enough to give me the leftovers for lunch the next day, those acts of love and kindness inspire me to love her and be more fully devoted to her. Such gracious acts invoke a response of gratitude and love. Yet, the ultimate gift given by the creator of the universe invokes in me, a much more tempered response. While I want to love God and grow in His love daily, I find a constant war within me to rebel. This war is not present in me in regards to relationships with others, yet is there in regards to Christ. Why would I continue to take advantage of His grace when such love and devotion has been given to me?

Praise God for this grace! For without it, we would be hopeless wanderers, guilty of sin against an almighty God. Words cannot express the love of Christ towards His own. It pleased God to sacrifice his Son for our sin. I've often wondered why God chose to atone for our sins in this way. What greater amount of love could be shown towards men that God, in his veracity for justice, would send his beloved to pay the debts for our sin! The atonement contains the fullness of God's love for us and the fullness of His hatred for sin.

So let us always remember the sacrifice of Christ and the ultimate love shown toward us, while we were still yet sinners. Let us be holy as Christ is holy. Let us keep his commands, not out of fear or duty, but out of love.