Acts 27:17, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him

". . . so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though His is not far from each one of us;"

And what a beautiful thing it is. The Lord of heaven and earth and every created thing living or dead came down and touched broken man to save him from his own wayward nature. Sending Son to die as payment and Spirit to bring life to we who were already dead, the Creator of all things built a bridge that closed the gap of separation brought about by our own disobedient natures so that any willing to walk by the narrow road, desiring more than the cares and fleeting desires of this world, could come to Him, the Judge, seeking forgiveness; and find that their sentence for all wrong doings, for sin, has been paid for and God's wrath and judgement poured out on another, undeserving, who sacrificed Himself for us so that both the justice and mercy of the perfect and loving God would be brought about in full righteousness and truth.

More than this, having forgiven, the only God adopted as children those who were once lost and enemies of His divine and perfect nature so that they would be more than debtors and slaves bought with a heavy price by the sacrifice of Jesus, who is God and was sent by God, being Himself the eternal God, to come into the world in the form of man and free us from our own imperfect fallen natures, doing what we could never do, living a perfect life without sin, and accepting as one undeserving of death the death of a transgressor, a criminal, that of the cross, an execution, and more than these the judgement and wrath of a God who, though loving, being perfect and just, would act in imperfection and deny His very nature by allowing crimes and wrongdoings to go unpunished.

Seeking forgiveness we are forgiven, and the God of Creation receives not as debtors and therefore servants those who cry out to Him; but rather, by adoption, we are received as undeserving children through His Spirit and our dead souls are given new life, and in death we have no fear for the greater death which comes after. Before the judgement seat we are found as saints, His perfect children, whereas the unrepentant, those who in this life spat in the face of their Hope, the sacrifice and death of Jesus; the Spirit who convicts, offering truth and salvation; and God Himself who chose to make us more than stones and dirt by giving freewill and the freedom of choice and whom in freedom the unrepentant reject and blaspheme, will be judged as God who made all things finds just.

We come before our Father in heaven as loving children who were first loved, just as a child with their earthly father, and we thank Him for being a God so far beyond us yet willing to step close and wrap us in His arms, whispering, "Sweet child, you were unloved and yet I love you. Come with Me you who had no home and I will give you rest. You will be Mine and I will be yours, in this short and imperfect life I will guide you by the hand, I will be with you in your joys and your sorrows; in death I will receive you to a new place eternal, where joys are many and sorrows will not be known, and you will know Me as I have always known you. Come away from the fallen world, you do not yet know the lack of its satisfaction and have not yet seen the better things I have for you. You do not yet see Me but soon you will see fully. I have drawn close to you; wrap your arms around me and I will never let you go, for though you have not seen it long have my arms been around you, able to carry, yet you were unwilling."

Though eternal He has made Himself not far from us.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." [the words of Jesus, written in the book of John, his personal testimony to the life of Jesus, chapter 3; reference: "John 3:16-18"]

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [the words of Jesus, written in the book of Matthew, his record of the life of Jesus, chapter 11; reference: "Matthew 11:28-30"]

---
I will be prayerfully posting the above to facebook and writing it out to place in envelopes and give to my friends who do not yet know Christ in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him.

Written April 26, 2012

---
Michelle's study of Acts 17:27