The Kindness of God

"The whole outlook of mankind might be changed if we could all believe that we dwell under a friendly sky and that the God of heaven, though exalted in power and majesty, is eager to be friends with us." A. W. Tozer

Those words do not sink deep into my soul. Instead, they are like the depth charges of WWII ships, dropping bombs and listening for reverberations that would indicate the enemy. Tozer's words are dropping bombs, listening, waiting for a reaction.

The WWII ships wanted to reveal where the enemy submarine cruised and hid below. Tozer's words want to reveal something, too.

What do I believe is fundamentally true about God?

Do I believe God is for me? Or against me?

When we have sinned and feel pressed down by shame, like a submarine reaching crush depth, we often feel that God is against us. We assume He can't possibly love us, can't forgive us, can't want a relationship with us.

It's a natural feeling, but what if we're wrong?

The good news of the gospel says we are wrong in that regard -- by grace through faith, in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Romans 6:6-10 "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him."

Not only has Jesus's death justified us before God, it has saved us from God's wrath. That feeling of shame is not God's voice, but the Enemy's. God seeks a relationship with us and sent His Son to prove it.

"The whole outlook of mankind might be changed if we could all believe that we dwell under a friendly sky and that the God of heaven, though exalted in power and majesty, is eager to be friends with us." How would our lives be different if we really believed that? If you really believed it?