John Pike II, Newington, CT
The following is a commendable meditation, written by our young brother.
Words are the building blocks of communication, letters strung together to form the very bricks that make up the foundation of modernity. Without words, mighty empires would topple, sturdy civilizations would crumble, and worldwide panic would ensue in daily life. Man cannot function without communication and words are the precise means of engendering ideas, bringing them from the mind to life with simple air.
Words are the "glue" of humanity. But are there notions and concepts which words cannot describe? I would emphatically suggest that there are such properties of human life that cannot be conceived by mortal lips with mere words. The attachment of a mother to a child, for example, is something that runs deeper that words can describe. That great emotional bond is something that is at the core of each person.
Death that snatches away a loved one cannot be breached and explained by simply proclaiming the feelings and emotions that are felt at such a troublesome, heart-wrenching time. How can a meaningful relationship with an individual be explained simply by speaking? Eulogies spoken at the graveside can bring tears to the eyes and make one yearn for just one more embrace from the deceased. How much more intense are the feelings that run through the very blood of those that love the one that has passed on! They must be felt and endured to be understood.
The intense joy and thanksgiving that springs from the heart at the moment of salvation, a joy that is harbored and cultured throughout a lifetime, cannot be expressed simply with words. These are just a few things that words, as important and essential as they are, cannot bring to life without actual experience.
Another such example is God and all that is associated with Him. His Excellence, His Sovereignty, His bountiful love to poor, wretched sinners is far beyond the grasp of the mortal mind. Man has tried down through stretching centuries to create or use words that could impress our minds with the great love of God. Words and phrases such as "vast," "bountiful," "shoreless seas," and "unmeasured" have been scraped from feeble language. Songs have been written, telling us that the love of God is "more than tongue can tell." Children sing "Wide, wide as the ocean, high as the heavens above, deep, deep as the deepest sea is my Savior’s love."
But can such words truly capture what God’s love is towards us? We can read in 1 John 4:8,16 that "God is love." There is no man or woman on earth of whom it could be said that they are love. Our Lord Jesus Christ was the physical embodiment of God. All the glory of the Almighty was made manifest in the person of the Lord Jesus. He symbolized the unending oceans of mercy, grace, and love that God has made available to us. Thus, the Lord Jesus Christ was love incarnate.
In 1 John 4:19, it says "We love him, because he has first loved us." That wonderful verse can be changed to read, "We love, because he has first loved us." The God of the universe our Heavenly Father, is the reason that we love. He is the substance of all that love is and can be, the very cement that holds together our lives. His love can be seen in a small part each and every day. Take, for instance, a mother caring for her child or a groom looking into the eyes of his bride. "We love."
But His full, unbridled love toward us can be seen in only one place. Calvary! For though words cannot express a love as great as the Father’s, there was one way in which it was demonstrated. The old sayings, "Actions speak louder than words" and "A picture is worth a thousand words," are fitting when considering this. A sacrifice was made. We know that it was not just any sacrifice, but the laying down of a life that was perfect and spotless.
The Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross of Calvary and died for those that hated him for no reason (Psalms 69:4). Hate.. .a word that when truly considered, reveals such intense negative emotions. Yet, those that hung the loving Savior upon the cross demonstrated such seething hatred so as to spit upon a blessed face, already bruised and beaten by fists and the rod. Soldiers for whom the Lord was dying scourged his back, so that it could be said prophetically, "The plowers plowed upon my back, they made long their furrows" (Psalms 129:3).
Even in the midst of the swirling ages of time, when man has tried seemingly in vain to conjure up words to describe a love so vast, the Word of God gives us a beautiful verse. It is a verse that children around the globe have memorized and quoted. Its twenty-five simple words describe just how much God loves a sinful world. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). These words capture so beautifully the immense sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, as well as show with sparkling glory the love of God.
What a tremendous sacrifice was made on our behalf, so that "a soul so unworthy might live"! Brothers and sisters in Christ, words will never be able to express how vast and unmeasured is the love of God. We sometimes feel as if all that could be said about God and His love has already been prayed and preached. But the ages that have rolled their course are solid evidence that so much more could be said, if only His love could be understood.
As we gather on Sunday mornings and other meetings, we should never cease to give God our thanksgiving, for if we held our peace, surely "the stones would immediately cry out" (Luke 19:40). And we owe Him so much more than stones, we owe a price that could never, and need never, be repaid.
And someday, when we gaze into a blessed face that was once marred beyond belief, new and everlasting words shall be sung to the honor, glory, and praise of He who died for us (Revelation 5:12). The Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.