1179. The Compassionate Christ

The Compassionate Christ

"And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood" (Eze_16:6, f. c.).

How wonderful is this expression: "I passed thee, and saw thee."

The assaulted Jew lay wounded by the road side, he was beaten, bruised and bleeding. The priest saw him, and passed by. The Levite saw him, looked upon him, and passed by. The Lord saw him and had compassion upon him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on His own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

Thank God, for the compassionate Christ!

"He saw us ruined by the fall,

Yet loved us notwithstanding all;

He saved us from our lost estate,

His loving-kindness, oh, how great."

Praise God for the love "in which He delivered our souls from the pit of corruption." Praise Him for the grace that caused Him to cast all our sins behind His back (see Isa_38:17).

David never ceased to praise God for saving him. He said, "He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock" (Psa_40:1-2).

Let us briefly notice what God saw when He passed by us, we lay there before Him, in our sins.

1. He saw our sin. The prodigal's father was not blinded to the sin and the shame, that shrouded his wayward son. He saw him and he understood full well that his son had sinned. Yet, he loved the wayward son. Thus God commendeth His love toward us while we are yet sinners.

2. He saw our need of help. The prodigal's father had compassion, and ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him. Thus, has God loved us, and washed us; He has put the new robe upon us; He has put the ring upon our hand and the shoes upon our feet. Our God fed our hungry souls; and gave us to drink of the Water of Life.

3. He saw us redeemed and without iniquity. The man who finds the diamond in the rough, sees beyond its crude condition. He sees it cut, and polished by the lapidary; he sees it the most beautiful of jewels, he sees it adorning some fair lady of the land.

Thus Christ also saw us. He saw us first, as we were–enemies, ungodly, sinners. He saw us also as we were to become quickened, raised and seated with Him in the Heavenlies.

"God hath beheld no iniquity in Jacob."

4. He saw us as His glorious inheritance in the ages to come. Our God is a God Who holds in the grasp of His vision, all of the ages to come. The future He holds with the same clearness that He holds the past. Our God is a God Who works everything after the counsel of His own will. Before ever the world was made, God, in His eternal vision, passed by and saw us. He saw us not only ruined in the fall; saw us not only saved and sanctified; but He saw us as His inheritance in the ages to come.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR