God is love. —1 John 4:8
God in Christ is no longer a consuming fire but a God of love, of peace—a reconciled God. God in Christ holds out His hand all day long to poor sinners. He receives all. He welcomes all. He rejects, He refuses, He casts out none. It is His glory to pardon a sinner. It is the glory of His power; it is the glory of His love; it is the glory of His wisdom; it is the glory of His grace to take the prey from the mighty, to deliver the lawful captive, to pluck the brand from the burning, to lower the golden chain of His mercy to the greatest depth of human wretchedness and guilt, to lift the needy and place him among the princes.
Behold Christ on the cross! Every pang that He endures, every stroke that He receives, every groan that He utters, every drop of blood that He sheds proclaims that God is love and that He stands pledged and is ready to pardon the vilest of the vile. Justice, sheathing its sword and retiring satisfied from the scene, leaves mercy gloriously triumphant. And God “delighteth in mercy” (Mic. 7:18). Having at such an infinite cost opened a channel, even through the smitten heart of His beloved Son through which His mercy may flow boundless and free, venture near, nothing doubting. No feature of your case is discouraging or can possibly arrest the pardon. Your age, your protracted rebellion against God, your long life of indifference to the concerns of your soul, the depravity and number of your sins, your want of deep convictions or of stronger faith, any worthiness to recommend you to His favor—these are not true impediments to your approach and not pleas with which you should not come close and touch the outstretched scepter, bathe in the open fountain, put on the spotless robe, welcome the gracious pardon, and press it with gratitude and transport to your adoring heart.
In the light of this truth, cultivate loving and kindly views of God. Ever view Him; ever approach Him; and ever transact your soul’s affairs with Him in and through Jesus. He is the one Mediator between God and your soul. God your Father may now be leading you through deep and dark waters. His voice may sound roughly to you. His dim outline is, perhaps, all that you can see of Him. His face seems veiled and averted; yet deal with Him now in Christ, and all your hard thoughts, trembling fears, and unbelieving doubts will vanish. In Jesus, every perfection dissolves into grace and love. With your eye on the cross, and looking at God through that cross, all the dark letters of His providence will in a moment become radiant with light and glory. God, who has so revealed Himself in Jesus, must be love, all love, and nothing but love, even in the darkest, most painful, and most afflictive dealings with His beloved people.
Morning Thoughts, Octavius Winslow
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