When you peel away all of the layers, what do you find? The reality we experience seems to be an endless good/bad sandwich. We have good experiences that are tainted with bad moments, and we have bad experiences that have a redemptive twist. But what is the meaning of it all? If you could pierce through all of the pleasures and pains, all hope and despair, all achievements and failures, what would you find? Is it something good, or is it bad?
At the genesis of humanity, Good was there. It breathed life into dust, and our lungs filled with this Goodness. Then in an evil turn of fate, man tore himself from union with his Creator! He became distant in his mind from friendship with God, and began to distrust his maker. Surely this divorce was mutual? Surely man had fallen from favour with God?
In the darkest moment, after many words of life had been shared and many bodies healed, when the Light was about to be extinguished by those who so needed illumination…at this point the very roots of reality, the fabric of time and space, and the depths of the human soul paused to listen. Truly in this approaching moment the deepest truth would finally be revealed.
And sure enough, a spear plunged into the very heart of Goodness, and from it’s wound flowed blood and water. But this blood was not like any other. It was not like the blood of the first murder victim, which called out for vengeance. No, this crimson fountain made tangible what the Voice had just uttered.
“IT IS FINISHED!”
When the very heart of Goodness was pierced, the bedrock of creation was finally exposed….and it did not release a message of judgement, but from it’s wound flowed mercy for the nations! This darkest moment became the hope for all mankind! Not a hope that perhaps someday things may be made right again, or that through some sort of effort we could make our way back to Him….but a hope that declares, “TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION!”
We do not look into the future, hoping to one day bridge the divide between man and God. The bridge has been built, and his name is Jesus! The same breath that first filled our lungs has never left us! He refused to abandon mankind through our ages of doubt and self-inflicted distance. He is now, as He has always been, for us! We were made in His very image, and his cross declares that His image bearers we remain!
So what happens when you pierce through all of the good and bad, and come to the very root of our existence? Goodness that knows no boundaries or limitations!