Of all the living things created by God, human beings are the only ones who bear His “image.” They are also the only ones who daily fight the battles between good and evil in themselves , sometimes winning for good, and sometimes losing. Plants and animals suffer, but they do not sin. God’s angels do not sin, but witness much of the suffering from sin on earth, and sometimes do battle among supernatural beings. (Daniel 10:20-21) Evil exists, and humans experience it, and sometimes practice it, and sometimes with God’s help, defeat it. In this struggle between good and evil, we are joined by the Spirit of God, making us the closest to Him of all creation. In fact, humanity is the very object of God’s love and commitment. The prophet Isaiah spoke the words given to him by God: Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will never forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. . . ( Isaiah 49:15)

When the time was perfectly right God sent His son to Mary to join humanity and enable the world to witness the length and width and depth of His love and commitment to humanity. By giving Jesus and allowing him to die at the hands of God’s fallen creatures.

Jesus, who, though human, had never sinned, knew his Father God well, and used his time on earth to display God’s character and very presence on earth. He famously said,

God so loved the world that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3: 16-17)The key , and most difficult part, was the saving, for Jesus had to embrace the cross on which he died.

Not everything about God is known to us, but when God speaks in Scripture of His own heart, the furnace is revealed in Him toward us. David wrote, “I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever.”

(Psalm 52:28) The apostle John wrote, “See what great love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!

(1John 3:1)

In all times, and especially in times of uncertainty, it is good to know the One whose love is able to fill eternity.

Love in Him,

Prue