My dad is someone who I always look up to; someone I always want to be like. He always supports me and wants me to know that he is there for me no matter what. He always sacrifices for me even when he thinks I don’t notice. I am very blessed to have him in my life and I know that I can talk to him about anything that comes up. He is someone I feel safe around; someone safe enough to be myself. Even though I don’t tell him this often, he is my superhero. I love him dearly.
Last semester I was part of a small group with a group of guys that really brought me closer to the Lord. The small group was through the campus ministry at my college and even though I was skeptical to join at first, I am grateful that God pushed me to go every single week.
A particular exercise that we did one week has really stuck with me to this day. One week while we were praying, we started each prayer with addressing God as “Dad”. We often address God as “Father” or “God” or even “Lord”, but it is very rare to hear someone pray to God as “Dad”. It was weird at first, because who does that? But the effects for me were immeasurable. It became something that I do as a habit during prayer; something more intimate.
Whenever I pray to God as “Dad”, it means something more. I was very blessed to have an earthly dad who loves me dearly. He is someone I am proud of and appreciative of more than he knows, and it is something that I should tell him more often. When I talk to God and address Him as “Dad,” I can picture the tangible love that I feel whenever I talk to my earthly dad. I know and understand, and by no means am saying that my earthly father is God, but merely that because my dad loves me so well, I can have a tangible feeling as to how much God loves me as His child.
Jesus felt this way, except He was closer to God than any of us. He was intimate with God beyond our comprehension. He walked with Him closer than any of us because He was fully God and fully human. When Jesus gave Himself for us on that cross, He lost his father. I cannot imagine losing my own dad, let alone imagine the pain of Jesus losing God. The blood that was spilt on our behalf, cost more our lives is worth and that is love. That is grace.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.– 1 Peter 2:9
Peter says we are a chosen race, not a choice race. If we were a choice race, that means that there is something good in us that makes us a good choice, but as a chosen race, that means that God is coming to us to make us good. We are not the first choice for God, after all, we were the ones that walked away from Him. He chooses us for his own possession even though we are not worth the choice. Think about it like this, you have a choice to pick me, someone who is just an average joe, or you can pick Superman, Batman, Captain America, or anyone else. Who would you choose to save the world from an unknown force. I certainly hope it is not me.
Jesus picked the runt when He chose us. When we failed to choose Him over sin, Jesus did not turn His back on us, but instead ran toward us like the father in the prodigal son. God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die for us. We are wicked, wretched, evil, and certainly undeserving of saving, but Jesus died for us. He died for our sins, for our pride, our gluttony, our selfishness, our lust, our greed. Everything. He lost his relationship with His father for us, so that we may become righteous, through Jesus, with God. That is divine love. That is grace.
As this weekend is Good Friday, take a step back and reflect on the past few hours, past few days, past few months. See how you have mistreated others, failed to love when you were loved, and how you disobeyed God. Confess your sins and acknowledge where you have wronged others. Repent and turn away from sin and lean on God. What are you ashamed of? What do you feel guilty about? We are not worthy of saving. We are not a choice race, but a chosen race. We become good only by Christ and Christ alone. He gives us the strength to break the chains of our sin and follow Him.
Easter is always a time full of tradition, it being the most important time of year for all Christians. Christmas has its importance and is full of joy for the Son of God, but Christmas would not exist if not for the day that Jesus saved mankind from itself. Good Friday is the day that Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for His creation, the same creation that He saw was very good. Easter means nothing unless we understand the price that was paid for our undeserving souls on that cross where Jesus chose us over everything else.
As we prepare this week for Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to reflect, to confess, to pray. God is our dad, He loves us, He cares for us, He supports us, and He is always there. Maybe even try calling Him “Dad”. God picks up His robes and runs to us, no matter how muddy and dirty we are from living with the pigs. He loves us enough to die for us in order for us to know that we are His. That is the Gospel. That is Love. That is Grace. That is our Dad.
What are tangible ways that God shows His love to you?
What does Jesus’s sacrifice mean to you?
How can you better prepare for Easter knowing the importance of Good Friday?
“And still I’m a wicked, wretched man, I do everything I hate
I am fighting to be god, I seethe and claw and thrash and shake
I have killed and stacked the dead, on a throne from which I reign
In the end I just want blood, and with His blood my hands are stained
See the God who reigns on high, He has opened His own veins
From His wounds a rushing torrent that can wash it all away
Grace upon grace, upon grace upon grace”-Kings Kaleidoscope
“What wondrous love is this,
That caused the Lord of bliss,
To bear the dreadful curse,
For my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.” -Fernando Ortega
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