What could more emphatically prove His love — than coming to this world of sorrow and sin to suffer and die for us, when we were enemies to God? He left His habitation in glory — for the foul stable. He left the homage of angels — for the insults of men. He left the smile of His Father — for the temptations of the devil. He left the raptures of Heaven — for the groans of Gethsemane. He left the splendors of His heavenly throne — for the ignominy of the cross. He left the brightness of the celestial glory — for the darkness of the tomb!
And why was this? It was love that prompted the sin-atoning sacrifice. Love to the undeserving, to the rebellious, to those who then crucified Him, and to those who now pierce Him by their sins! And love still prompts His intercession at God’s right hand. Having done so much to save us, will He allow us to perish in the storm? “He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all — will He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Will the love that has already effected so much, fail us in any extremity? May we not feel every doubt dispelled, when we recognize it to be Jesus Himself who says, “It is I”? The scepter He grasps is omnipotence — but we need not be afraid when the hand that wields it is love! The winds and the sea obey Him; but the voice to which the universe pays homage, says to every trembling disciple, “It is I! Take heart.”
The God that rules on high,
And thunders when He please;
That rides upon the stormy sky,
And manages the seas;
This awesome God is ours,
Our Father, and our Friend!
