Revelation in the Sun

It was a glorious day here yesterday, warm and sunny. I took a long walk by a lagoon, soaking up the sun and then rested on a bench by the water, with a longing to soak up the Son. I reached for my current companion (Contemplating the Cross) and began to read and these words gave me pause:

The weight of the sin-sick world hangs from the nail-pierced hands that once fashioned it into being.

I meditated on this for awhile... Jesus, the Son of God, was there at creation. Not just there, but He did the creating! John 1:1-3 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made."

And connecting these dots rocked my world...I had not thought of this before...Jesus created trees, and now he was hanging on the very wood that he created. He created ore for metal, and now that very iron was piercing his flesh. He created Man, and now those babies he created were grown up and mocking him, and one of them held the hammer...the hand that was fashioned in a mother's womb by the Lord Himself, was now holding the hammer that was driving the nails into the hands and feet of Jesus.

Creation murdered the Creator.

How much more this deepened my understanding of how great his love was that day! It's mind-blowing that he could say, "Father, forgive them." The very people who should be thanking him for their very lives are scorning, mocking, scoffing, deriding, humiliating, and killing him. But he loves...he forgives...he saves.

This is why I worship. This is why I lift my hands. This is why I have given my life to Christ because I can't fathom any other response.

I'll close with a song Matt Redman wrote which expresses this so beautifully. The lyrics are below and you can listen to it here. I pray it blesses you.

I will offer up my life in spirit and truth,
Pouring out the oil of love as my worship to You
In surrender I must give my every part;
Lord, receive the sacrifice of a broken heart

Jesus, what can I give, what can I bring
To so faithful a friend, to so loving a King?
Savior, what can be said, what can be sung
As a praise of Your name
For the things You have done?
Oh my words could not tell, not even in part
Of the debt of love that is owed
By this thankful heart

You deserve my every breath for You've paid the great cost;
Giving up Your life to death, even death on a cross
You took all my shame away, there defeated my sin
Opened up the gates of heaven and have beckoned me in

Jesus, what can I give, what can I bring
To so faithful a friend, to so loving a King?
Savior, what can be said, what can be sung
As a praise of Your name
For the things You have done?
Oh my words could not tell, not even in part
Of the debt of love that is owed
By this thankful heart

What can I give? What I can I bring?
What can I sing as an offering, Lord?