Jesus Belongs to Us

Over the past several weeks I have been reading a new book. 

"The Faith of Jesus" 

written by: M.L. Andreasen 

Copyright 1939, 1949 

This book has a total of 574 pages. 

 I have found some real gems in this book and I will be sharing some of them with you here ever so often. 

 Jesus Belongs to Us 

Jesus is the Son of God, the only begotten. From times eternal He has been one with the Father. Together they worked in creation, together they worked in redemption. They are one in purpose and mind, one in execution. Jesus Himself said, "I and my Father are one.: John 10:30. 

Sin, which always causes sorrow and separation, did not leave the relationship between Father and Son untouched. If man were to be saved from the terrible results of transgression, it could be only by a revelation of the love of God which would eventually require the supreme sacrifice. And God did not hold back. Terrific as was the cost of the sacrifice, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.

That cost man will never fully understand. A glimpse of the suffering that has been in the heart of God since the inception of sin, was given on Calvary. But that was only a momentary revelation. God's suffering was not confined to a few hours on the cross. The would was deeper than that. The cross served to give man some little understanding of what sin has cost, but it could not fully reveal the heart of the Eternal. We can only imagine the reaction in the heart of the Father when the Son cried out in agony, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" He would gladly have sent the Son assurance that He had not forsaken Him, but in that dark hour no such comforting assurance must be given. The Son must tread the wine press alone. he must die without the comforting word that would have buoyed Him up. He must feel to the full the Father's displeasure because of sin. And so no answer came back to Him in response to His heartbreaking question. This broke the heart of the Son of God- and also that of the Father. 

What is the meaning of this tremendous experience on Golgotha? Why did the Father and the Son subject themselves to the heart-rending anguish which must have been theirs? Again there is no other answer than that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. 

He "gave his only begotten Son." Some take this expression to mean that God gave His Son in the sense that the Son died for us. This is true, but He gave Him in another sense also. He gave Him to humanity, gave Him to be one with us and one of us, permitted Him to bind Himself to humanity with bonds that can never be severed. Throughout the ages to come Jesus with be the Son of man as well as the Son of God. To us this means much. To God it means more. 

(pages 34-35)