We all loath when people misread us. When we communicate our hearts and thoughts and the translation has a break down because either we did not articulate it well or the person has wounds that interpret our words in the wrong light. The result is frustration and even depression. Our greatest desire in life is to be loved but in this prism of amore we want to be known, understood, and for someone to get a glimpse at the real us of even for a moment. I concede that there are those who do not want to be known for they fear being exposed, but this knowing includes unconditional love and acceptance of the genuine one-hundred percent you. One of life’s greatest pains is being marginalized and not being fully understood, not displaying our full potential, and not showing someone who we really are. This frustration is shared by Jesus Christ our God and Savior. He was marginalized and misunderstood to the zenith, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.” (Phillipians 2:2-11), “ He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God,” (John 1:11-13), and, “Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. 26 But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.” (John 10:25-30).
Even with us Christians Christ experiences frustration, where we do not see Him as He is fully. We either brand him a loving hippy without boundaries or a Alpha and Omega with blood soaked sword. The truth is Jesus loves us so much He died for sins when we were enemies (Romans 5:4-11), He is love (1 John 4:8) and merciful (Hebrews 4:16), but He is also full of justice; He confronted the religious leaders (Matthew 23, whole chapter) and cleared the temple with a whip (Luke 7, whole chapter) and is coming back to be with us who loved Him back and to judge the wicked (Revelation 19:4-11).
Our Lord often gets caricatured or split into different personalities. When He is both merciful and just, full of love and wrath. We as complex creation have the same nature, we have a open heart to love and show total compassion and tender mercies but become indigent with rage over injustice and abusers of our kindness. The Lord God is not bipolar, He is perfectly loving and perfectly just, hence why it is written, “Moses came with the Law, but Jesus came with Grace and Truth.” (John 1:17). Grace and truth, God’s grace is unconditional love, forgiveness and salivation but it is in the truth that if you reject this gift you are damned (John 3:17-18) and love abides in truth (love it patient verse, love rejoices in the truth) and there is only one truth and way to heaven Jesus Christ (John 14:6) and though you have grace, salvation without merit, it should produce truth of a holy life.
Christ is a loving God that desires all be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), however, He knows many will reject His love and grace (Revelation 16:9) and so He judges them whom He offered eternal life with the second death since they refuse grace and truth they get death and doom. Our Lord Jesus is like the painting above, so full of endless love, “may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” (Ephesians 3:18). He wants to hug us and heal us and help us. Jesus is the only one with the Fathse and Holy Spirit who can know you, understand you, and accept you 100%. He did this already when He chose you as an enemy of God, “For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:10). Those He judges are the ones who reject His love and sacrifice on the cross for their sins. Christ will crush the wicked to avenge us (Revelation 6:10-13) and to prove His love. If Jesus was to wantonly save Adolf Hiltler along side Oscar Schindler then we would cry God is unjust and that it demeans Schindler’s sacrifice to save the Jews in the Holocaust and all would be grey and we would not trust God and think Him creepy for letting Hitler (unrepentant) into heaven. No, God judges Hitler and sends Hik to hell because that is love too, love to the righteous who suffered under Hitler and healing to our hearts that God favors those who love him back and act loving not ruthlessly like a psychopath.
Love, Grace, Mercy, Justice, and Truth are all One. You cannot love without truth, love is proven by good acts of love and truth tells us what is good and loving. The truth is God loves us and is just, He satisfied justice for us Christians who confess Him and love Him by dying for our sins on the cross; in His love sacrifice He poured Justice we were suppose to suffer on Himself at the cross. Those who reject Jesus then get the justice on themselves instead of if falling on Christ on their behalf. God showed mercy and love to us by dying on cross and Justice was shown by punishing Himself for our sins, but love and justice are shown when He punishes the wicked who don’t accept this truth, because Hitler and Schindler don’t belong in the same place, Schindler became a Christian.
You see it’s love to us that Jesus died on the cross and it is love to us that Jesus punishes those who harm us and won’t accept His love on the cross. It’s love and justice and truth all at the same time; we merely are describing different aspects of it with different words.
May we come to love Jesus our Savior on the cross dying for us and Jesus risen and riding in wrath for our behalf. They booth are Him, both are love and truth. Amen.
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