Like many Christians, I long believed God was an angry father… and a violent one at that. A father that was only appeased by nailing his Son to a cross and all the rage he felt towards me, a pitiful sinner, was taken out on Jesus so as God might be able to look at me without feeling ill for my detestable sin. Even on my best day I could never measure up to his demands of holiness and purity, for years I identified myself as a ‘stench in the nostrils of God’.

Oh but now… but now! I have been born-again – again 🙂 I have a faith of my own (not the inherited/flawed version that I received as a child), my faith is in a Loving God who loves me allllll the wayyyy allll the time – just because!

I read a story recently, recorded as being a true account, of a young woman who was ticketed for speeding. Because of the offense she was to go to court and have her case heard. When she stood before the judge, he re-counted the speeding offense and she was asked, “Guilty or not guilty?” She plead, “Guilty.” The judge struck the bench with his gavel and fined her $100 or ten days in jail. Then the most stunning moment… he stepped down from his bench, took off his judicial robe and paid the young woman’s fine. Why? He was her father. He loved his daughter, yet he was a just judge. He could not simply overlook the infraction of law because the offender was his daughter. But he could take off the robe and step down to her position, assume the role of a father and pay the fine.

This father – daughter story demonstrates a powerful analogy of what God did for us through Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death”, and we are all sinner saved by Grace… what Grace? The Grace that God extended us when His Son was nailed to the cross.  No matter how much he loved us, because He is a righteous and just God, he had to bring down the gavel and say death, the penalty was issued and required payment. While He is a God of justice He is above all a God of Love, He loved us so much that He was willing to come down off the throne in the form of the man Christ Jesus and pay the price for us, which was Christ’s death on the cross. All God has ever wanted is our love, He sent Jesus to be crucified, to absorb our debt so that we could be with Him forevermore. Yes the God I worship is Lord and Saviour to be honoured but He is also my Heavenly Father that loves me beyond measure, He gave His Son for me, the least I can do is live for Him. x