See the Savior

THIS WEEK I think I love Jesus more than I ever have before, and that's saying something. If you read what I wrote last week, you know that at Women's Retreat I came to realize that God's love is so boundless that we have no lack. But God hasn't stopped there. The more you know how much God loves us, the more you love Him - and the more you can love other people! Here's one way to look at God's love: I don't know much about the universe, but I know that if it does have limits then it isn't big enough for God's love for us. Because God is not limited in any way! Doesn't that just blow you away? The more you know Him, the more you realize you don't know, and the more you fall in love. Today is Easter, one of the those days in the year that can be an amazing reminder of how God loves us. The way we celebrate in America, it can also be a serious distraction from Him. I mean, I love chocolate. I love chocolate that is shaped like a bunny. I look forward to any day when I can expect to be given a whole lot of chocolate. But what about that Savior - let's not take our eyes off that Savior who died, physically and spiritually, and rose so we can live. He didn't die on a cross made of gold - or of chocolate, for that matter. I watched the Passion of the Christ on Good Friday. That was hard. It left me wondering what kind of God we belong to - how do you speak to a God who takes one look at the sin of the world and says, "Okay, here's My Son. Surely My own life will be enough to bring you back to Me"? I've been going through Exodus and I've seen that God has been painting pictures of what our salvation would be since ancient times. Look at the Passover lamb of Exodus 12. As a part of fighting for the freedom of His people Israel from their enslavement in Egypt, He was about to kill all the firstborn in the land. But the way His people would be set apart was that their children and livestock would be saved when they mark their doors with the blood of a perfect lamb. He told them not to break any of its bones, and not to let any of it remain. In the same way, we are saved from death when we are marked by the blood of the Lamb of God who stands in our place to redeem us. None of His bones were broken, and His sacrifice is not wasted. We are set apart not because of who we are, but because of who He is. Later, in Exodus 16, God sent bread from heaven called Manna to feed the redeemed people in the wilderness. The food was perfectly satisfying and there was always enough. Jesus calls Himself the true bread from heaven, sent so that we will never be hungry. I've been asking God to help me see more of what His love is like. As a result, He has just blown me away. A problem I tend to have is that when I read about Jesus' death and resurrection in the Bible, I tend to forget how it all really looked and felt. I can see what the events are and what the Lord said, but I often forget to think about His pain. I think it's because realizing what He had to go through makes me think about how much I need it, and it isn't fun to think about how much I need a perfect Savior to lay down His life. It's stressful to remember how hard that was for Jesus. It's more pleasant, less challenging, not humbling at all, to think of Jesus like He is represented in a lot of artwork. He isn't covered in blood and lacerations with exposed muscles. He isn't crying for His Father, misshapen and disjointed. He looks like He is sleeping. How about this? Psalm 22:14 "I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it has melted within Me." I think the reason I have grown to love Jesus more than ever is that I have seen more of His love than I have before. Isaiah 53:5 "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." Yeah, Jesus was scared, but He did it for two reasons - to fulfill the will of God, and out of love for us to save us. John 10: 17-18 "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father." Enjoy the chocolate, but may your love for the Savior just grow and expand so much that you can't fit it all inside. I find that when you see Jesus, I want to be more like Him. I want other people to see him too. I'm falling in love with Him, and I always want to love Him more than I already do. I see my weakness and I'm excited to see the ways He will manifest His strength in my life. How much must He love us, if He loves us even though we put the holes in His hands? Celebrate, because He is risen and so are we. And we get to spend forever in the arms of the God of unending love.