Exclusive beauty:
"From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines in glorious radiance." Psalm 50:2
"God's greatness, holiness, and wisdom, attributes that convey the great distance between us and God...[His] love drawing us near, that our hearts might be lifted up in wondrous adoration."
"God sacrificed His Son to save an unloving people who by nature are hostile to Him and rebellious against Him. Scripture says that God 'did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all' (Romans)...What amazing unfathomable love, that the eternal, sovereign, holy God should sacrifice His Son for sinners such as you and me!"
"Thank you, mighty God, for loving me into Your salvation."
"It is not enough...to appreciate God's love only in terms of initial salvation. We should be growing each year in our awareness of the depth of His love for us in Christ - as we become more aware of the reality of our own sin even as believers. An increasing understanding of God's holiness, of one's own sin, and the value of Christ's death will always mark a person who's growing as a Christian...'If you read about the experiences of Christians who progressed in their relationship with the Lord Jesus beyond the norm, you will note the combination of a deep sense of sin and failure together with a deep appreciation for what God accomplished in Christ Jesus' (Lutheran pastor Don Matzat)."
"Some years ago I prayed that God would show me more of His love. He answered that prayer by showing me more of my sin - not just specific sins I'd committed, but the sinfulness of my heart. Then i began to appreciate more His love for me. This is when we really start to enjoy fearing and worshiping God: when we realize in the depth of our being that we justly deserve the wrath of God, then see that wrath poured on Jesus instead of on ourselves. We're both awed by His wrath and astonished at His love."
Exclusive Justice:
"[Jesus bore] the wrath that was justly due to us. This is the meaning of the atonement. Only as we come to grasp with the fact that we truly were objects of God's wrath do we begin to appreciate this good news of the gospel."
"NIV translation explains 'atoning sacrifice' as that which turns aside God's wrath, taking away our sins...to satisfy His justice and thus turn aside His wrath from us."
Etc. (something to ponder...)
"The pretty newborn baby girl weighing seven pounds six ounce and measuring eighteen inches long comes into the world an object of God's wrath - not because of her own sin, but because of her identity with Adam in his. All of us then aggravate our condition by daily adding to it our own personal sin, which by its nature would provoke God's wrath if we were not in Christ."
**Post-thoughts: Yesterday when I read the above the part where Bridges said, "not because of her own sin, but because of her identity with Adam in his," I wasn't sure what to think. I totally agree with his thought that we are sinful in nature, and maybe I'm reading into this too much, but to say that the baby "comes into the world an object of God's wrath - not because of her own sin," my head tilts in confusion. And maybe this is true, as he does follow those words with "because of her identity with Adam in his," saying that we are sinful by nature and not just action. Well, whether I read into it incorrectly or not, I was encouraged by God's answering when I was reading Psalm 51, "For I was born a sinner - yes, from the moment my mother conceived me" (vs. 5). We are sinners because we are conceived and born of sinners. It's our nature. Apart from cross we are in a helpless estate, desperately in need of full dependence on a Savior.
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