I have given up on trying to finish John Calvin's "Institutes of the Christian Religion" in a year, but I continue to read and meditate on this great work. Today I finished Book II, Chapter 6, which focuses on Christ as our redeemer. I'd like to share a piece of the this chapter’s final section on the comfort we have in Christ: “I wish to impress upon my readers... that the first step in piety is, to acknowledge that God is a Father, to defend, govern, and cherish us, until he brings us to the eternal inheritance of his kingdom; that hence it is plain, as we lately observed, there is no saving knowledge of God without Christ, and that, consequently, from the beginning of the world Christ was held forth to all the elect as the object of their faith and confidence. In this sense, Irenæus says, that the Father, who is boundless in himself, is bounded in the Son, because he has accommodated himself to our capacity, lest our minds should be swallowed up by the immensity of his glory (Irenaeus, lib. 4 cap. 8)... the meaning merely is, that God is comprehended in Christ alone."
I love this piece; it causes me to give praise to God, that He is a Father who defends us, sustains us, CHERISHES us, and faithfully brings us the end. He does all of this through His Son, Jesus. I especially love the quote from Irenæus. Knowing that if we as humans, w/ our limited bodies and minds, were to fully engage w/ God’s glory, we would be consumed by His awesomeness. So desiring relationship w/ humanity, God sent Jesus so that we may approach Him safely. It is a beautiful picture of God's grace, His power, and our need for Him.
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