All throughout scripture God assures of us the promise that
He is always with us. He gave that promise
to Jacob, to Joshua, the people of Israel.
And Jesus gave us that same promise before his ascension into
heaven. Not only is God’s presence
promised to us, but also His love, the patient, kind, faithful, enduring,
never-failing love, is ours as well. The
passage that says it in a way no other does – spells it out, if you will – is Romans
8:38-39
For I am convinced
that neither death nor life,
neither angels nor
demons,
neither the present
nor the future, nor any powers,
neither height nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to
separate us from the love of God
that is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
These words are a wonderful assurance of how secure my
relationship with the Father truly is.
Ever since I have known and experienced God’s love, I cannot imagine
life without it. I have not even tried
to imagine.
That is, until last night.
Last night’s Good Friday “Come Thirsty” Good Friday service centered
around the last sayings of Jesus.
"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" |
In that moment Jesus had taken upon himself all of the sins
of the world. In that moment the wrath
of God was poured out upon His only Son.
In that moment the assurance of God’s love, the oneness of
the Son with the Father, was abruptly, violently, merciless taken from Jesus.
As the congregation listened and meditated on the message as
it was being delivered, I imagined, what would it be like if every single
promise the Bible gives us were taken from me, abruptly, violently,
mercilessly?
What would it be like if the God – the One who by His Holy
Spirit lives inside of me – left my life without so much as a good-bye note?
Panic. Anguish. Inconsolable grief.
The physical suffering of Jesus was not enough to satisfy
the wrath of God’s judgment. The Savior
experienced the heart-wrenching emotional and spiritual agony the Father must
feel when we choose to live in an unrepentant broken relationship with Him.
Jesus, you suffered the anguish of separation from the Father’s
love. You did it for me, so I would never have to know the pain of such abandonment and forsakenness. The promises of your presence and love mean
much more now than ever before. Your
love for me is deeper, higher, wider than I can ever comprehend. I thank you more than my words can ever
express. Amen.