What I have come to appreciate the most over the last 60 days has been my Savior. I cannot think of anything more beautiful than him. His sacrifice, His grace, His mercy, His love. He is true beauty. Before him all things pale in comparison. So I want to dedicate the last 4 days of beauty simply to Him and specifically, the afore mention four attributes.
His sacrifice.
"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
I cannot think of a time that I felt so low as the time that I came to grips with the fact that God took on flesh, came to Earth and was brutally tortured and murdered so that we might not be separated from Him for all of eternity. This price He paid, covered me, the most unworthy of the unworthy. The lowest of the low. He took me, unto himself as one of his chosen people. Knowing full well, that I would disappoint Him, that I would fail Him, that at times I would run His name through the mud. And yet, here I sit, redeemed, cleaned and made right through His sacrifice. What beauty is this, that the Son of God should die for a sinner.
His Grace.
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:23-24
I deserved death, but His sacrifice paid for my life. By His grace alone, can I stand. How is it possible that a holy and just God can look upon us, a world of depraved, disgusting humans and say "I love you." We do nothing but fall short of His standards. We lie, gossip, steal, murder and pervert everything around us. I do not stand to accuse anyone more heavily then myself. I fail to achieve His glorious standard on a minute by minute basis. Ane yet, He still came, He still died, and He still loved me. What beauty is this, that in my shame and sorrow, His grace covers me.
His Mercy.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," 1 Peter 1:3
In His mercy He not only forgave my sins, but He has offered me a new life, a new home, and hope. Before I knew Christ, life was lived and then ended. Before I knew Christ, my only home was a dilapidated two story house. Before I knew Christ, I was doomed to die and disappear, fading into the wind like a snowflake, bright and glorious as it falls from the sky, but quickly destroyed as the suns rays beat upon its crystalized surface. Through His mercy that has all changed. Through His mercy, I have life eternal. Through His mercy, my home is greater than any ever constructed by mortal hands. Through His mercy, this world is but a temporary stop, not the final destination. In this world I am but a visitor. Through His mercy I have received a new citizenship, in a country far greater than any this universe could hold. What beauty is this, that His mercy restores me.
His Love.
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20
Above all else, is His love. What a remarkable thing that God looked upon us and saw humanity not as a stain upon His creation, but as a treasured part of that creation. What a quandary that He looked upon us, and said "they are beautiful", when by all accounts we have done nothing but pollute and pervert His glorious creation. How breathtaking is His love. That not only does He look past our sin, but He took it from us and died with it for us. What beauty is this, that He can look upon me, and still say "I love you".
If you don't know my Savior, then you need to. He is a gentleman, He will never force Himself upon you. But know that He waits with open arms, to restore you.
