John 3:16 (NLT)
For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Yesterday, we defined what it meant to reach out. We even compared scenes from a couple of films John mentioned to inspire us to do so. Today, we get not just examples of such reaching but rather, the ultimate act of reaching. And that is, in a word (or the Word):
Emmanuel. Emmanuel- God with us. God reaching out a fleshly arm, Jesus, to reconcile us to Himself. The Creator stepping into, reaching into, His creation.
Use your imagination (remember child-like faith). We live in a technological world so it won’t be too far of a stretch. Let’s say you create a world on your computer. Sort of like a SimCity deal. You program and create beautiful, good things like people and trees. Your desire is to have these people love you because you love them, not because they have been programmed to. In fact, you create them with the intelligence and free will to make their own decisions. Then one day as you turn on your computer to spend some time with them, you instead discover a virus. And no sign of them. They’re hiding. Ashamed of the choice they made when you weren’t “there.” Ashamed they’ve allowed a virus in. Before long, the creation goes haywire. Your cute little people turn to face you in the screen and curse you. They kill one another. Fight over material fashions. Destroy the world you gave them reign over.
But alas, you desperately love these people, this world that you creatively and uniquely shaped. Despite their failures. You love them so much that you, in your infinite power as Creator, scan yourself and step into your broken program. Only to have these once beautiful people turn on you. And no matter your time and love for them, they want to delete you from the hard drive, erase any semblance of you from the program. You know this. But you enter your created world anyway, die at their hands. All for the chance to redeem them.
Would you?
I wouldn’t.
Bet you’re glad I’m not Yahweh. Its been quoted until we nearly ignore it, but read the Scripture reference again. And praise Him for reaching out to us...
