Grace is the God Who Stoops

Sometimes it’s hard for us to picture God.  I read about a little girl who went with her family to see a beautiful fireworks display.  After it was over. Her Daddy pointed at the stars and said to her: "Look, sweetheart, those are God's fireworks."

After thinking for a minute the little girl said: "I know why God made them so high in the sky?"

"Dad was fascinated, He asked, “why did he do that?" She put her hand on her hip and said – Daddy, don’t you know, God’s the only one who can reach up there."

Our God is sure big, isn’t he?

Recently I either heard or read the following phrase; “Grace is a God who stoops.”

That really hit me, because God, the Holy, Almighty, Eternal, King and Ruler of the stars, of the entire universe, sometimes shows himself to us as the God who stoops down and reaches out to His people.

In Philippians 2:5 (NIV) we read,

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! 

The verse says that He humbled himself.  - Jesus stooped.  He bent down. He reached out.  He came down.

Can you imagine God almighty on the throne of the Universe –

• Coming down to earth from the glory of heaven to be placed in a manger in Bethlehem, to become the created along with the creator.
  
• Or Bending down to write in the sand when the woman was about to be stoned to death.
•  Or Reaching down to the Leper who was pleading to be healed.
• Or Stooping  down– to wash the feet of His disciples.
  
  

See Jesus, in the presence of God.  A place that we cannot even imagine.   Jesus. at His Father’s right hand with angels ministering to Him.  Beauty beyond belief.

And yet He came to earth. 

And It was for love of man that He came down to earth from that realm of Glory.

In John 8 (NIV) we read of Him bending down.  Jesus was in the temple teaching and ….

“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.  In the Law. Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”  They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.  Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

Can you picture her looking around and seeing everyone gone.  She answered

“No one, sir,”

Jesus said to her

“Then neither do I condemn you,” . . . “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

He bent down to help the woman who needed His love as much as His correction.

It was for love of that sinner that He bent down.

In Matthew 8 (NIV) we read that

Jesus was with a large crowd of people when a man who had leprosy came and knelt before Him and asked, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 

It was for love of the hurting that He reached down.

John 13 (NIV) tells us an amazing event in which Jesus stooped to wash the feet of His disciples.  Jesus – the Rabbi, Jesus the Son of God, Jesus washing dirty feet.

It was just before the Passover Festival. . . .  The evening meal was in progress, . . .  Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”

He was showing them how they should humble themselves and love each other.  Can you imagine the grace that Jesus displayed in stooping to wash the feet of these men?

It was for love of His followers that He stooped down to teach them in such a way.

Jesus is the God who stoops, who reaches down, who bends down – the God who came down from Glory to show us how much he loves us.

He reaches down and touches us with His healing love.  He bends down and offers us forgiveness.  He stooped down to show us by example how to love others.  He came down to give us eternal life.