Evil is Good? Surprisingly and Perversely, Yes.

I never thought I'd say this, but there's a certain aspect of my childhood for which I'm actually grateful. What I mean by this is that what I went through as a child keeps me conscious on a daily basis of my sinfulness and need for a savior, something I don't ever want to forget.

I think we all need to remember that we are sinful creatures ("...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."~~Romans 3:23, ESV) and can do nothing without God's help. I am eternally grateful for God's love for me, and for Jesus' willingness to go to the cross for me, especially given that it was my sin that pounded the nails into His hands and feet on that cross.

It's difficult for me to fathom the kind of love demonstrated by Jesus. He chose to divest Himself of everything He had in Heaven--His majesty, His royalty, His title, His rights, everything--and come down to earth as a human person, a baby. He did that so He could bear my sins (and the sins of all mankind--I have no illusions that it's all about me) on a cross in the most cruel of deaths.

In addition, just living as a human being must have been an unimaginable change for Him. To step down from being the King of Kings, the Master of the Universe, the Creator of all Things, into a tiny baby's frame, with all the bodily functions of a human body--what a HUGE switch!!! In Heaven He didn't even have a physical form, and now He not only had a physical body, but He had all the functions that go with having that body. Eating, sleeping, yawning, crying, a stuffy nose and associated snot, peeing, pooping (sorry, but let's be real here)... You know, all the gross stuff human beings have to go through. The only thing he didn't do was have sex, because that would have been a part of the sin nature that He couldn't partake of in order to remain sin-free.

There's a song that Chris Tomlin sings; the title escapes me, but there's a line in it that pretty well encapsulates it for me: "He knows the depths of my heart and He loves me the same." God knows how black and depraved I am, and He continues loving me, no differently than if I were perfectly righteous. The mystery and beauty of that idea is so amazing to me that it makes me weep everytime I think of it, and it makes me want to fall on my knees in worship all at the same time. I just can't fathom it!

I could write for a very long time on this, but what I've said thus far says it in a nutshell, so I think I'll just post this.

THANK YOU, JESUS, FOR YOUR MERCY AND GOODNESS TO ME!!!!