Through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross (Colossians 1:20).
"God has erected a strange, marvelous, and wonderful sign in the world, where we all can find him--I mean the cross of Jesus Christ, the cross of the suffering love of God. Under the cross of Christ we know that we all belong to one another, tht we are brothers and sisters in the same need and in the same hope, that we are bound together by the same destiny, human beings with all our suffering and all our joys, with sorrows and with desires, with disappointments and fulfillments-- and most important, human beings with our sin and guilt, with our faith and hope. Before the cross of Christ and his inconceivable suffering all our external differences disappear, we are no longer rich or poor, wise or simple, good or bad; we are no longer Americans or Germans, we are one large congregation.
Let us look at the love of Christ, who without guilt bore the cros. Why? Because he had loved his people more than himself. And then let us consider our own feebelness and our own want of courage, our anxiety when sorrow and grief threaten, our selfish desire to live a comfortable and carefree life. In profound and serious humility we Christian people must confess that we are not worthy of the great love of God."
No Greater Love: Lenten Meditations
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