“You made a hill called calvary
Where you made a way for me.
You made the man who drove nails in your hand.
You even made the tree.”
Once upon a time there was a King who ruled over all of the heavens. In all the the heavens he was exalted and his name was lifted high. The angels sang his praises and the spirits of his Kingdom glorified him without cease. He was such a mighty King that even the stars worshiped him. But something was missing. Some part of him longed to be loved, and not just worshiped. So he created a People who would adore him and praise him as a father, and not just as a King. He gave these People the gift of choice so that when they obeyed him and praised him and sang his name it would be because they chose to do so - because they truly loved him. He gave them all they could ever want or need. Rushing rivers brought them sweet, cool water to drink and tall, majestic trees gave forth fruit to eat. Bright flowers traced the air with perfume and mountains rose tall enough to touch the sky. Every morning the sun would rise, setting the world ablaze with her glory, and every night the moon would take her place, gleaming like alabaster in the midst of the stars. The King gave his People dominion over all the creatures of this beautiful earth, from the smallest bird to the tallest elephant. The People wanted for nothing the beautiful world the King had made for them and for a time everything was at peace.
But then the People fell. They rejected the King and so he cast them out of the beautiful world. For thousands of years the People ran from the King. They forsook his commandments and they shunned his love. They fought and they sinned and they turned the King’s beautiful world into a pit of lies and violence. Whenever the King looked at his beloved people he saw only darkness and the stain of evil.
But he could not turn his back on the People he had made to love. He knew the only way that the People could be brought back from the abyss of destruction they had driven themselves into was to provide a sacrifice - a perfect scapegoat - for their sin. So he sent his only Son, the Prince of Heaven, to the filthy world that his People had made. He watched with tears in his eyes as the People bound the Prince to a tree, driving nails into his hands and feet. He heard the Prince’s cry of pain and felt the earth shake as the Prince drew his last breath. But with the blood that spilled to the ground and with the death that resurrected life, the People’s sins were washed away.
Even today we crucify the Prince of Heaven. Every time we sin, every time we run from the King, every time we chose wrong over right we are driving another nail of sin into the Prince’s hands. But he continues to shoulder our crimes. He never stops loving us or calling us to himself. Why do we keep running? Wouldn't it be better to accept the love of the King and live in the beautiful world he intended us to live in?
“God has reconciled the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them; and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” - 2 Corinthians 5:19
