Be a Pebble-Ripples Will Flow

God’s Obituary Notice

When a loved one dies, customarily an immediate obituary announcement is made by way of newspapers, social media, personal phone calls, and so forth. Family members and close friends have an urgent desire to get the word out that their loved one has passed away.

But what about God? Surely He made an obituary announcement regarding the death of His Son. God was there when His Son willingly suffered a cruel death on a cross for the sins of all humanity. God, who created the universe—did it matter to Him if or when there would be an obituary about His Son’s death? It mattered.

Even so, in my thinking, it stands to reason that God must have reminisced about how He had fellowshipped with Adam and Eve. He created them for His pleasure and enjoyed walks with them in the garden that He had prepared for them. He wanted to have people of His own to love and to be loved by them. But He could not remember the joy they had brought Him without remembering the sin that had caused an immediate separation. He may have reflected on the many generations that had brought Him grief. He knew that because of sin, a sacrifice would have to be made to restore fellowship with humankind. God is holy, and no amount of blood from sacrificed animals could ever pay the full penalty for the sins of the fallen human race. It would take an innocent, sinless human being to make that sacrifice. But there was no sinless human being.

God was well aware that there was only One who could become that sinless human being—God’s Son. In times of my own meditation, I have wondered if God considered the depth of evilness of the fallen human race and pondered whether or not they were really worth it—worth sacrificing His Son. If and only if God pondered that question, His next thoughts may have been on a man whom we know as Abraham. Even though Abraham was part of our sinful human race, he showed an unshakeable faith in God through his obedience. If God pondered whether or not humans were really worth it, He may have weighed in with the thought, Is there even one human being who would do the same for me?

My thoughts go on to recall God telling Abraham to take his son and offer him as a sacrifice. There is no record of Abraham questioning God, which might seem shocking, but he believed with all his heart that God would keep His promise—his descendants would come through Isaac (See Genesis 21:12). That promise is affirmed in Hebrews 11:18–19, where we also find that Abraham believed God was able to raise Isaac, even from the dead.

When Abraham put his son on the altar and raised his arm with knife in hand, God stopped him. While witnessing the trust that this human being had in Him, perhaps He thought, They are worth it. At an appointed time, God sacrificed His Son to provide the opportunity for restoration of the fellowship that was between God and humankind.

Many years went by and animal sacrifices continued, but it was never enough to blot out sin. At last, God had had enough. He sent an angel to tell a virgin named Mary that she had been chosen to give birth to a child who would be the Son of God. It would not be by human conception as we know it, but by the Spirit. God is Spirit. It must have been grief unimaginable to know the cruelty that His Son would suffer from humankind. But it must also have been joy knowing that at last there would be no more sacrifices of animals for sin, which was only temporary and never enough. The ultimate sacrifice of His Son’s blood would be enough!

And so we know that while on the cross, God’s Son breathed His last breath and uttered the words, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Wham! God sent an immediate announcement, not to the press but to the world. The veil in the Temple was split in two from top to bottom, and God shook the earth; even rocks split. Wow! That was God’s obituary notice of His Son’s sacrificial death. Never had there been an obituary notice like that one. I wonder if God wept at length over the cruel crucifixion or if His heart danced for joy while waiting for His Son to rise from the grave. It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!

Still, God was not finished with His obituary. We have the official published notice, which includes quite a record of His Son. We call Him Jesus. God also called Him Emmanuel, which means God with us. This published record includes all that led up to His sacrifice on the cross, His rising from the grave, the forty days He walked among humankind after He arose, His ascension, and His being seated at God’s right hand as an advocate for us. It also includes how we can know Him, have fellowship with Him, and be with Him throughout eternity. It is quite a write-up, and it is all included in the book that we know as the Holy Bible.