This ever-present Christ!

(Letters of John Newton)

"Surely I am with you always — to the very end of the age!" Matthew 28:20

In our natural state, we have very dark, and indeed dishonorable thoughts of God — we conceive of Him as at a distance.

But when the heart is awakened, we begin to make Jacob's reflection, "Surely the Lord is in this place — and I knew it not!" Yes, though we cannot see Him — He sees us, He is nearer to us than we are to ourselves!

And when we are saved, we begin to know this ever-present Christ; that the government of Heaven and earth, the dispensations of the kingdom of nature, providence, and grace — are in His hands; that it is He with whom we have to do — who once suffered agony and death for our redemption, and whose compassion and tenderness are the same as when He conversed among men in the days of His humiliation.

Thus Jesus is made known to us by the gospel, in the endearing views of a Shepherd, a Husband, a Friend. With humble confidence, we may enter into the holiest of all, and repose all our cares and concerns upon the strength of that everlasting arm which upholds Heaven and earth, and upon that infinite love which submitted to the shame, pain, and death of the cross — to redeem sinners from wrath and misery!

There is a height, a breadth, a length, and a depth, in this mystery of redeeming love, exceeding the comprehension of all finite minds!

"May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully!" Ephesians 3:19