Sunday, November 5th
Jesus said,
"As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness so must
the Son of Man be lifted up"
John
3: 14
All life must be offering if it
is to fulfil the Father's loving
purpose. All love must be giving,
and in that giving is the challenge
of yet more living and loving. But
the loving must be sacrificial if
it is to achieve that which the
Father wills and purposes, namely
the well-being and perfection of
the beloved in the Name of Him who
redeems and perfects all things
and people.
So was it that the Son of Man,
the firstborn of the new creation,
became the first and ultimate offering
in love and self-giving, suffering
all contumelies, ignominies and
aggression in the brief moment if
time which had access to all time
by virtue of the Father's love and
the Son's loving immolation.
And as each and every beloved child
of the Father emerges from the cocoon
of natural self-love, glimpsing
, however dimly and briefly the
challenge of fulfilment of eternal
life, so must each and every one
become willingly and lovingly lifted
into the pattern of identification
with the cost which the Son has
offered to all who follow in faith
and love.