God's marvelous love encountered me so beautifully, when I took Communion this morning. As I reminded myself that my life is built upon the power of Christ's death and resurrection, no matter my circumstances or my emotions. I took the elements and meditated on who Christ is, and on what He has done for me. And then suddenly to my delight, I got deliciously hammered by God's goodness and His flawless, perfect love.

Wow! What a price Jesus paid on the cross, when He shed His blood for us. All so that we could have a relationship with Father God. This wrecks me. I am filled with fresh amazement and awestruck wonder at the scandal of being in a heart-to-heart relationship with the most important, most transcendent, most powerful, wisest, most loving, kindest, most beautiful, most significant Being that could ever exist. 

I mean how can this even be? That we, mere human beings, so intricately flawed, dysfunctional, insignificant, selfish and broken - could be in an intimate relationship with GOD Almighty? And not just as distant acquaintances, but in a profoundly mutual "knowing" that reaches the very depth of our being.

Boldly Permitted To Approach God's Throne

How can we have been invited into such an irrevocable adoption, as sons and daughters of God? Fully accepted? Unconditionally loved? Eternally embraced? And boldly permitted to approach the Father's throne, day or night, whether we be clean or dirty, righteous or unrighteousness...pure or impure? And how can we be called friends of God? Friends of God? OF GOD??!!!! Like whaaaatttt??? Seriously, how is this lofty, inconceivable privilege our reality?

Yet this is our reality. And it is all made miraculously possible and accessible because of the blood shed by God's Son Jesus, who is the only complete representation of God. Through Him and Him alone, we get to meet God, we get to know Him and we get to see Him. We get to be in unhindered, love-drenched relationship with God. This is wild. God's love is SO SO wild It's a love that's so scandalous. It's actually quite ridiculous. So inconceivably undeserved.

God's Marvelous Love Revealed

To thin that God Almighty, who is LOVE personified, would send His own precious, perfect Son to demonstrate the fullness of His Father's love, by dying for an unlovable, sinful world - by becoming the very Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice for an imperfect world. And in doing so, the Father's love would be revealed.

And then, those that would accept this gift of extravagant love - this very torturous crucifixion, the sacrificial breaking of the body of the Son of God - carried out on their behalf - would then become the very body of Christ - the Bride of Christ - who the Father would then lovingly prepare, with great care and delight, to present to His Son, in divine marriage. His beautiful, beautiful Son Jesus.

Jesus. Glorious One. Oh so so dazzling is His nature. Beautiful is His fragrant aroma, Flawless is His character and irresistible is He personality. Who could resist Him? His incredible nature causes the body of Christ - His bride - to literally adore Him, to be lovestruck. Enamoured forevermore. Ever so besotted with Him.

A Love So Wild

And the whole while, we are falling in love with Jesus, we are seeing more of God's marvelous love revealed. And this is what floats our Heavenly Father's boat I reckon - having His creation receive revelation of His nature, by falling in love with His Son. Yet, only made possible because God loved us first and sent His Son to die in our place, to save us from perishing and to bring us into an intimate relationship with Him. So that we could know Him.

This is crazy. It's the most scandalous, inconceivable, almost ridiculous demonstration of love that could ever exist. And yet, we are the recipients of it. Recipients of this eternal love-jackpot, which is so beyond our merit, our understanding and even beyond our capacity to reciprocate this love. But reciprocate we must. For how could we not? How could we ever take lightly such a love? How could we ever fail to lavishly respond to a love so wild? A love so free? One that is totally unconditional? And so undeserved?

Yet this is the extravagant love, that we were all created for. It's truly God's marvelous love that has been lavished upon us. It's a divine, unfathomable, glorious love that now defines us. Shapes us. Completes us. And it renders us utterly wrecked, in the most delicious way...for all of our days.

x