God Is Possibility
4 min read
35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Mark 14:35-36
Everything is possible for God the Father. And yet, in His sovereign wisdom, He chose to send His one and only Son to the cross to pay for the sins of all humanity across all time.
There could be no pleasure on the Father’s part for doing such a thing. Rather, sending His Son to the cross to receive the fullness of His wrath must have caused great pain on His part—especially knowing that His Son would have to suffer on behalf of proud, rebellious, and immature sinners—that is, us.
The magnitude of God’s love for us is measured by the obedient sacrifice of Christ in relation to the depravity of the human soul. For us, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak—always. For the Son, obedience is all that matters.
The magnitude of God’s love for us is measured by the magnitude of God’s concern for His own glory. Those two aspects of God’s personality go hand in hand. God’s glory and His love cannot be separated, and so there is a profound confidence that we can have in His love for us.
The magnitude of God’s love for us is beyond measure, reaching into the deepest sorrow and the highest joy. And His love reaches us in the particular concerns of our lives each and every day. God’s love for us is not an abstract theological concept. Rather, His perfect love meets in in this imperfect world, leading us to life-giving hope.
Was there any other way for our God, for whom everything is possible, to redeem us from the bondage of sin and death? God “hated” His Son in order to love us.
Of course, “hate” is not the right word. There are no human words to describe what God did. It is beyond categories of human hate and love.
In the end, the only category that matters is the will of God. And so, how fortunate are we that God is good and God is love?
Father, Everything is possible with You. You are sovereign, and You reign over all space and time and over every soul and over every being. In all Your power and knowledge and presence, over all things and across all of time, You work Your will for the good of those who love You. Father, I pray that You make me love you. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
