Photo by Sammie Vasquez on Unsplash
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
When I was about 6-years old, we got our first television – a black and white with knobs you had to get off the couch to turn to change the channel. One of my earliest memories was of Neil Armstrong taking the first walk on the moon. He famously said, as he jumped to the moon’s surface, “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Neil Armstrong, in a sense, took a 238,900-mile step. Indeed, a giant leap, made with aid of several powerful rocket engines, from one part of God’s creation to another.
NASA’s giant leap is impressive, but there are some chasms not even rocket engines can cross. Adam and Eve caused an insurmountable abyss through their fall into sin. Sin leads to infinite separation between God and His crowning creatures, mankind. The void is insurmountable for mankind, but not for God. God’s Word (Philippians 2:5-8) tells us He sent His Son, Jesus from His throne in heaven to earth to become one of us – a human being – while also maintaining all His divinity. Fully God and fully man, Jesus overcame the infinite chasm of sin, for all mankind, through His death and resurrection. Because of Jesus’ obedience to His Father’s will, all who confess their faith in Him cross over the abyss of sin from death into life.
And Jesus continues enabling people to make this infinite leap. Through us, He works to bring all those who live in death’s darkness into the light of new life. St. Paul writes, “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13) God calls each of us to use our many gifts to serve Him in His creation. He calls us to “shine as lights in the world, holding fast to (His) word” (Philippians 2:15-16) so that others may believe in Jesus by the power of the same Holy Spirit. And through this faith, make the giant leap into life in God’s eternal presence.
In the Love of Christ,
Pastor Jim