The Lengths of God

By Kyle Blackwell

It is evident that Christ died on the cross for our sins. Why would He do this for a sinner like me? The short answer is that He loves me. Let us dig a little deeper though. I want to get into God’s mind for just a second even though no man can possibly understand Him completely. Although this is only a mere human being and this God of mine is the Creator of the universe, I do have His true Holy and inspired Word to guide me in the right direction.

My oldest son asked me a profound question the other day that I have not been able to get out of my mind. “Daddy, why did God make poison ivy”? Now, that may not seem profound to you older cats out there, but it challenged me. I told him, “Son, in order to know why God created poison ivy, I would have to be able to understand Him completely. That would mean that I could only answer that question if I’m God himself.”

I wanted my son to know that God is more than I’ll ever be able understand. He is awesome. I wanted him to know that I also have questions of my own when it comes to God.

I pray everyday that God will help me understand Him more and more. And I pray that He will help me understand His Word. My question right now is, what is the purpose of the cross? And what are the lengths God will go in order to lead us to the cross?

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” -Psalm‬ ‭51:12‬ ‭

The cross restores us, period. By Jesus dying on that old rugged cross, He restored us back to the way He originally created us. We were not built to be sinful. Why do you think we have guilt?  If we were meant to be sinners then shame would not exist. But shame does exist. And shame comes from the devil. We were made in the image of God. That particular verse is thrown around but very few actually realize the depth of the true meaning of Genesis 1:27. Yes, God gave humans dominion over all creation according to this verse, but it also means that we were created to be without blemish.

This restoration is also something new. When Jesus came on the scene He really changed the game. Other religions say you must get yourself together. However, Jesus says to come to Him and He will fix you. A relationship with Jesus Christ is like no other relationship you will have with anyone else on the planet. He is merciful. And He created us to be more than we are now. However, Jesus equips is with a new heart.

“Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” -Psalm‬ ‭8:5‬ ‭

We were made just a little lower than the angels. This in itself is astonishing to me. All throughout the Bible men were in awe and very scared when an Angel of the Lord appeared to them. Take a look at John, He fell to his knees and bowed to an Angel in Heaven. This was right before the angel commanded him to get up, that you only bow to God. This is John, one of Jesus’ closest disciples. If that is not enough listen to what Paul has to say in the matter.

“Do you not know that we are to judge angels? -1 Corinthians 6:3

When I read this, I just sat silent for a while. I was able to see the value that God sees in me. I was created a little lower than the angels, but I will be above the angels, and a little lower than Jesus, when I reach Heaven in my glorified state of being.

We were not created to be sinners. There is much more to us than our fleshly desires. Let me take it a little further and let you know how you overcome sin by utilizing what Jesus did on the cross.

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” -Revelation‬ ‭12:11

Jesus created us to be like Him. satan deceived us and lead us away from God (side note: it’s not only satan that leads us away from God; it is also our own fleshly desires.) Jesus died on the cross in order that we may be led back to Him. And we overcome satan by using the blood that was shed for us on the cross as our testimony. What a beautiful picture of restoration of the heart. God is so good!

Leviticus 17:11 states that the life of the flesh is in the blood. So when Jesus shed His blood on the cross, He put the life of God in the blood. Believing in the blood, I have the power of God living in me through Holy Spirit. Ain’t He good, though?

Now that we know the meaning and reason for the cross, I want to look at the lengths God will go in order to lead us to the cross, back to Him.

“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” -Romans‬ ‭1:20‬ ‭

This verse can be difficult to both understand and explain. This is why I am not going to explain it. I will do one better. I will give an example of how God shows His power and divine nature through His creation. This story is not in the Bible but it ought to be. The Bible is straight from God. And this ancient and historically documented story is divine. There is no way to explain except that it is from something much higher than us. It was from God himself.

The ancient Chinese worshiped a God named Shang Di. You will not find this in history books and your kids will not learn this from school, but the Chinese once believed in a single God, who was also creator of the universe. It may be hard to believe since they now believe in many different pagan gods, but it all truly makes sense when you read about the Tower of Babel. This is where we get all the different cultures of the world. God split the unity of all the people of the world at that time and gave them different languages. From there, they all dispersed into the different parts of the world. They all believed in one true, Holy God.

Emperor Shun worshipped Shang Di in 2230 BC, and He created the heavens and the earth and all things in it long before Moses wrote Genesis. The ancient Chinese also wrote about 8 people floating in a boat while the earth became flooded long before Genesis was written. How could this happen?

This could only happen through divine intervention. God will go great lengths making certain His Word is spread to people who may never have a chance to actually hear about the Bible and Jesus.

The Chinese recorded the days that Jesus was born and crucified. I was astonished when I learned of this. My God is great and mighty!

“In the second month of the second year [of Jian Ping, emperor of that time], the comet was out of Altair for more than 70 days…It is said, ‘Comets appear to signify the old being replaced by the new.’ Altair, the sun, the moon and the five stars are in movement to signify the beginning of a new epoch; The beginning of a new year, a new month and a new day…The appearance of this comet undoubtedly symbolizes change. The extended appearance of this comet indicates that this is of great importance.”
Astronomy Records of the Book of the Han Dynasty

This was written during the reign of Jiang Ping who was emperor between 6 BC and 1 BC, which is right around the time of Jesus’ birth. It is specifically recorded that this signifies a new beginning. Another thing that amazes me is that this came from a comet, or bright light. In the Bible, the shepherds followed a bright morning star.

“Summer, fourth month [of the year], on the day of Ren Wu, the imperial edict reads, “Yin and Yang have mistakenly switched, and the sun and moon were eclipsed. The sins of all the people are now on one man. Pardon is proclaimed to all under heaven.”
History of Latter Han Dynasty, Volume 1, Chronicles of Emperor Guang Wu, 7th year

This has been dated to the year 31 AD. there was an eclipse on the day of Jesus’ death. “The sins of all the people are now on one man. Pardon is proclaimed to all under Heaven”. How much more clear could this be? Jesus died out of love to pay the price for the sins of all who believe in Him.

Now, both of these excerpts do not have exact dates but they are definitely around the same time that Jesus was both born and crucified. Furthermore, these were written more than 4,500 miles from Israel, long before the Gospels were written and before the time of the book of faces and Google.

I have heard people say many times that it is not fair when people do not hear the Gospel. It is not fair that they do not get to go to Heaven just because they live somewhere Jesus is unknown. I refute that idea and these examples prove them wrong. Jesus said in Matthew 24 that “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”. More importantly, none of us deserve salvation. It is a gift. And I am blessed to be predestined for salvation. This is why I try my best to get the gospel to as many as possible.

This is another topic for another day but I just think about the extreme measures the scribes took in order to keep the words of the prophets in the Old Testament. That in itself is testimony to God’s relentless faithfulness to the entire world.

I will never be able to understand God fully. I rely on Holy Spirit for all my articles. I cannot do any of this without Him.

“these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” -1 Corinthians‬ ‭2:10

That same Spirit that is within me is the same Spirit God used to speak to others in far off lands. Sure, He uses missionaries through the direction of Holy Spirit, but as Romans 1 states, He also uses His own creation to speak to the World. One thing is for sure, I am so thankful for what the cross means to me. And I’m so thankful that Holy Spirit spoke to me on September 19, 2019 and told me that “I was never His” even though I said a ridiculous thing called the sinner’s prayer when I was 10 years old (nothing wrong with the sinner’s prayer, as long as you know it’s not the prayer that saves). I didn’t need a Billy Graham man to lead me to the pearly gates. I needed a word directly from God. And since that day I’ve been sharing the meaning of the cross to people all over.

God truly does go to great lengths to spread the true meaning of the cross and the reason for the shedding of His son’s blood.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge -Hosea 4:6