If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of
them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to
seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to
you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go
astray (Matthew 18:12-13)
Astronomers believe that our galaxy has a
diameter of about 100,000 light years, i.e. about 950,000,000,000,000,000 km,
and consists of about 200 billion stars. The number of galaxies was estimated
based on observations of a small portion of the sky (0.000001%) carried out
with the help of the Hubble telescope. There are about 10,000 galaxies in this
small area alone. Assuming that the galaxies are evenly distributed, their
total number in the universe can be 100 billion. Even if the real numbers were
many times smaller, they still make a big impression. Especially when we are
aware that all this was created by God. Can we imagine the being who created
these huge amounts of galaxies, stars and worlds with his word? And that's not
all, God not only created stars and galaxies, his work is every single atom! It
is estimated that the earth itself consists of about 1050 atoms! And
how many atoms are in the whole universe? These are numbers that are hard to
even imagine. And yet God not only created all this, but also at every moment,
with His word, sustains the existence of the entire universe!
The heavens declare the glory of God; and
the firmament shows His handiwork (Psalm 19:1)
Who can utter the mighty acts of the
Lord? Who can declare all His praise? (Psalm 106:2)
What about our
thoughts? At the right moment, God "will both bring to light the hidden
things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts" (1
Corinthians 4:5), and this means that He knows our thoughts perfectly, even
those that we hide very deeply. Our Creator knows us better than we do, because
sometimes we don't want to admit to ourselves what we have in our hearts.
Nothing can be hidden from God. And there is something that shows us what God
is like. He not only knows everything that is going on, but he also knows
everything that is about to happen.
Your eyes saw my substance,
being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned
for me, when as yet there were none of them (Psalm 139:16)
What possibilities
must God have to not only create and maintain the existence of what he has
created, but also to know his creatures and their future? I think it many times
exceeds the possibilities of our imagination. And that's not all. This Omnipotent,
Omnipresent and Omniscient God loves all His creatures so much that to save
fallen people He gave up His position in Heaven and came to our planet, the
only sin-tainted place in the whole universe to realize plan of our salvation.
The parable of the lost sheep symbolizes this truth about Jesus. Jesus is the
owner of one hundred sheep, and one of them is missing. We, fallen and
committed to sin people, are this one lost sheep. Of all the worlds created by
God, only one has been tainted with sin. And although Jesus had ninety-nine
sheep, not fallen and sinless worlds, our sins did not change His love for us.
God loves us and because of our condition He makes every effort to save us. „For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). „Oh,
the mystery of redemption! the love of God for a world that did not love Him!
Who can know the depths of that love which “passeth knowledge”? Through endless
ages immortal minds, seeking to comprehend the mystery of that incomprehensible
love, will wonder and adore. {PP 63.3}.
Can we imagine what change Jesus
made? In 1881, a novel by Mark Twain "The Prince and the Pauper" was
published. It tells the story of two young boys who were born on the same day
and are identical in appearance: Tom Canty, a pauper who lives with his
abusive, alcoholic father in Offal Court off Pudding Lane in London, and Edward
VI of England, son of Henry VIII of England. One day the Prince took on the
role of a Pauper and the Pauper of a Prince. For young Prince, this exchange
was something he did for fun, but quite soon the fun turned into a nightmare.
The prince did everything to end this nightmare. Is there a big difference
between a Prince's life and a Pauper's life? Certainly, but not as huge as
between the life of the King and Lord of the whole universe, and the life of a
humble man on earth. Jesus knew exactly what would happen to Him on earth and
what His life would be like. If Prince Edward knew what would happen to him, he
would never get to the place of a pauper. Not only did Jesus know his fate, but
he wanted this change. And this is what our egoistic heart cannot understand.
How can you desire such humiliation?
I delight to do Your will, O
my God, and Your law is within my heart (Psalm 40:8)
Only
a few people are ready to sacrifice themselves completely to save a loved one,
but can what they lose, apart from situations where they lose their lives, even
minimally match what Jesus gave up? He held the position of God in Heaven, but
"was made a little lower than the angels" (Hebrews 2:9). He
knew that the implementation of the plan of salvation would forever deprive him
of one of the divine attributes, because after binding himself to the human
body, Jesus lost the possibility of omnipresence. That is why he told his disciples:
"It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the
Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you" (John
16:7). And yet he wanted to do it. How many of us do something for other people
in some situations but think about this as a great sacrifice and don't really want to
do it? Jesus thought differently about his role in the plan of salvation and
obedience to the Father.
„Your testimonies also are my
delight (…) Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it
(…) I long for Your precepts (…) And I will delight myself in Your
commandments, which I love” (Psalm 119:24.35.40.47).
I think that many of us know a feeling that sometimes makes us
unable to refrain from acting. In such situations, we don't even think about
the fact that we need to do something, we just feel so much need to do
something that nothing can stop us. Why do we decide to act then? What drives
us to this action? There are two possibilities, both related to love. The first
is God's non-selfish love; the second is selfish love, egoism. Each of us can
find examples of the second one in our own lives. It is enough to recall those
situations in which we decided to do something that was contrary to what common
sense and the voice of conscience told us. The best example of the first one is,
of course, Jesus Christ.
It was love that was the reason for all Jesus' actions, love for the
Father and love for us, His creatures. How great is this love, since being
aware of what would happen to Him could not stop Him from coming to earth? Can
we really imagine that? Did we really know the price Jesus paid to enable us to
be saved, and did this knowledge affect our lives properly? What knowledge did
we gain while studying God's Word? Is this knowledge for us a revelation of
God's character, God's love?
Jesus said to the religious leaders of Israel: "You search
the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they
which testify of Me” (John 5:39). God gave us the Bible not only to tell us
about His Law, but first and foremost to reveal us the Truth, that is, Jesus
Christ. The Bible is a revelation of God's character, the foundation of which
is love, or rather the highest type of love, of which Jesus said: "Greater
love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends"
(John 15:13). God's Word has the power to lead the sinner to repent, love God
and reject sin. Anyone who has understood this message of the Bible can feel
this power in his own life. Unfortunately, not all of those who read the Bible
find this truth in it, and because of this they err, even though they are
convinced that they have learned the truth. To such people Jesus said: "Are
you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the
power of God?" (Mark 12:24). They were Pharisees and scribes, but
Jesus judged all their knowledge as worthless. Why? Because they didn't
understand the real meaning of what they read. And more importantly, their
lives did not reveal the action of God's power, the power that alone can
transform a sinner into a just man. This power manifested, for example, in the
lives of those Thessalonians who received the gospel given to them by the
apostle Paul. "For this reason we also thank God without ceasing,
because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed
it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also
effectively works in you who believe" (1 Thessalonians 2:13). The same
Word of God that worked effectively on Thessalonians can also work on us
because it is still "living and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints
and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart"
(Hebrews 4:12).
Does God's Word work like that in my life? Does it pierce my
consciousness like a sharp sword and reveal to me the truth about who I am? Did
God's Word make me realize how much I need God's help? Jesus said: "He
who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do
nothing” (John 15: 5). According to Jesus, the only condition for a good
life is being in Him. Why did he not say here about the importance of keeping
the commandments? Did he deny himself a few hours before his death on the
cross, since he had previously said that whoever wants to be saved should
follow the commandments? There is no contradiction here, because keeping the
commandments is the fruit of abiding in Jesus, not a way to abide in Him. Abiding
in God is first and foremost a love of God because „this is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1
John 5:3). „Whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in
him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought
himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:5-6).
Is this how God's Word works in my life? If not, it proves that I
have not yet met God and did not let God's Word work in me effectively. And if
so, then all my knowledge of biblical truths in no way will bring me closer to
God and salvation. My mind can receive and accept the fact that the Bible is
the supreme authority in matters of faith, I can agree that tradition,
experience and other sources of knowledge about God must be subordinated to the
Bible and checked by the Bible. I can accept the doctrines of faith because I
see their confirmation in the Bible. I can be convinced that the Saturday is
God's sabbath, or that after death man do not go to heaven, purgatory or hell,
but fall into a dream that will last until the resurrection. I can believe that
there is no eternal hell and there is no purgatory, and yet, despite all this
knowledge, I can be no closer to God than atheists. Why? Because God's Word
does not work effectively in my life, because God's Word has not revealed its
power in my life. Because all the knowledge I have has not changed me and made
me a new-born person. Because I didn't really know God and I don’t love Him, so
I don’t live like Jesus lived in me. Because my thoughts, feelings and desires
are not like Jesus' thoughts, feelings and desires. Because I am not perfect in
union with Him, and yet Jesus prayed for such unity before His death on the
cross:
„That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in
You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent
Me” (John 17:21).
Jesus' life is the best and most perfect revelation of God's love.
It is a revelation of how much our God, Creator of the entire universe, the One
who maintains everyday with his Word the existence of what he created, how much
He loves all his creatures, including us, fallen and sinful people living on
the planet, which is the only one in entire universe that is polluted and corrupt
by sin. Does the awareness of the magnitude of this love impress us in any way?
_____________________________________
PP – Ellen White, Patriarchs and Prophets
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