Behold the untainted lamb
This world is undeniably filthy with sin. We have not loved others well, and we too have not been the recipients of an unconditional love. We have all probably lost count of the times others have sinned against us and the times we sin against them. We have sinned when trying to take matters into our own hands, attempting to protect ourselves, being “lord” over our own lives. We often withhold our love because it has been taken advantage of, we are easily given to vengeance and irritation because of traumas too great to talk about. We withdraw from proper communication because we fear being misunderstood and in turn forfeit even the probability of social acceptance. We then resort to Rejecting or loving others at an arm’s length because we have come to terms with the old line, “the more people we let walk into our lives, the more walk out”.
But I have spent some time with my hand on my chin, squinting my eyes, wondering “why can’t our hearts rest in the promised future?” Perhaps we have been viewing God, His Word and promises, with the same lens we view the world around us. Looking at Him, through lens of the mother that forgot to nurture us, or that father that could not protect us, or a sibling that never kept food aside for us when returned school. Or with the lens of that person in power who abused us. We have not been put first and we too have failed to put others first, so it’s a no-brainer that the Lord’s promises, often seem very hard for our fragile hearts to grasp.
But I’d like to invite you to behold the son of God! Who laid down His life for you and me, so that in Him we may experience a love that is so unconditional that our human brains find it hard to fully comprehend and our heart are left in disbelief. Behold the untainted Lamb! He is nothing like us when it comes to love. He is unlike us, who love only when loving those around feels easy, he loved us first when we were yet to love him. Behold the Lion of Judah, David’s root who came to the world as ransom for all. He is God, a holy One at that, so to imagine Him otherwise is to imagine an entirely different figure. He created us, he loves us. Love is not simply what He does, it is ultimately who He is. You and I need to experience Him for ourselves won’t we take Him up on His word? Until we allow ourselves to experience God’s perfect love, we won’t be able to love others rightly or be able to receive love from others well. This concept is not new, we know from reading the Bible that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth, right up to the present time (Romans 8:22, NIV), for the day this brokenness, these sins will be completely wiped away. Groaning for the day, we will be in the presence of God and we will be singing a new song saying, “You are worthy… with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelations 5:9). That day we will not be worried about being socially relevant, because we will be in the presence of the Author of all life, we will be satisfied and full of praise and in awe of His magnificent beauty and glory that our hearts have never imagined before.
Let us prayerfully ask Him to open the eyes of our hearts that we may at least marvel at the stark contrast of this world and the person that He is. May our world’s brokenness draw us nearer to Him because each day, each of our experiences prove that He is Holy, and we are not. Each of our dealings prove that even His foolishness is a thousand times wiser than our wisdom combined. I invite you to consider Him.
