My God Is Wonderful
Oh Lord, how many are your works! In wisdom have you made them all. The earth is full of your riches. — Psalms 104:24
And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power. — Luke 4:32
Author
Faustino de Jesús Zamora Vargas
Summary: When we surrender ourselves completely to the Lord, we recognize how he has guided our lives and drawn us with love despite our rebellion. In a society that loses its sense of purpose by ignoring God, Christ is Wonderful: he has authority over all things and, though he is King, humbled himself and died on the cross to save us. Believing in him opens the way to eternal life and the hope of sharing in his glory. Let us fix our eyes on Christ above the people or possessions we admire. At Christmas, our admiration should also move us in the face of hunger, the struggles of mothers, and indifference toward children in need.
Do you not marvel at God every day? Are you not amazed at the ways He puts the pieces of your life’s puzzle together, giving it meaning and purpose? When we submit ourselves entirely to the Lord, we see His wondrous work unfolding, His imprint on the path we have traveled through the years and in the present
; how He prepared the way for our encounter with Him. Imagine the Lord fighting for you, drawing you with His cords of love despite your rebellion and sins. He is astonishing, so admirable as a counselor.
Today’s society has become depersonalized. To paraphrase Prof. J. Stoll, one might say that the loss of meaning in life in a world without purpose encourages the natural person to live out his own experience with his back turned on the eternal values of faith, questioning his own existence and removing (failing to recognize) God from His transcendent place, ignoring His full authority.
A person is truly transcendent when the Lord is in his life, and here, in my opinion, lies what makes him admirable. The crowds marveled at Christ because He taught with authority (Lk 4:32). What kind of authority? How far did that authority extend? Jesus said of Himself: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Mt 28:18). The apostle John heard a voice from heaven saying, “Now have come the salvation, the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ (the Messiah)…” (Rev 12:10)
That is why He is called Admirable: it is not an adjective, but a proper name. He is the supreme authority and Lord of all that exists. He is admirable because, though strong, He made Himself weak; though God, He humbled Himself to the utmost (Phil 2:8); though King, He was born in a manger and, to save us, died on a cross. I cannot fathom that someone so admirable, with all the authority given by God, died such a cruel death in our place. Do you know why? Because sin had deprived us of His glory, and He could not bear that. That is why He is admirable: because we need only give Him a chance to come into our lives; believe in Him, even with a tiny bit of faith, to have eternal life (Jn 3:16), to be heirs of God and fellow heirs with Him, and to come to share in His glory in eternity. (Rom 8:17).
Whom do you admire these days? What values of the world do you use to show and teach your children—siblings, parents, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, friends—at home, at work, even in church? Let us choose Christ; God transferred us into the Kingdom of His beloved Son (Col 1:13), and called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (2 Pet 2:9). That light was Christ and will be until the end of time. Do you admire your boss? Your possessions and wealth? Your pastor? Very well, but better to fix your eyes on Christ.
Another Christmas, another challenge. Do not stop admiring the Lord, but also marvel at the table where a crust of bread is served without a tablecloth; admire the Lord, but be moved by the mother who works herself to the bone in the daily struggle to feed her children; admire the Lord, but be troubled by the bewildering gathering of human beings indifferent to the innocent gaze of a child who does not know that his sadness comes from his meager, famished stomach. Has the admirable Emmanuel not already been born in our hearts?
God bless you!
Suggested reading: Psalm 104