The Forsaken Man

This a recycled blog post, but I thought I'd throw it up because I've been thinking lately how wonderful, deep and rich the Gospel is, and how it changes everything radically. Enjoy (it's best if you read this one aloud).

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A weathered man wandered down a dusty road heading to nowhere. Indifferent trees loomed overhead as he trudged uphill silently, and the bitter ground gnawed at his bare feet. At night, the wind would whisper in his ears, reminding him that he was alone. During the day it was even worse – it was silent.

One day the Wandering Man stumbled across a man nailed to a tree. The man simply hung there, beaten and broken, blood dripping from his mangy hair.

“Who are you?” asked the Wandering Man.

“Who am I?” replied the Man on the Tree.

“I am The Forsaken Man who, for the sake of man, forsook heavenly glory to hang on a tree that dead men might live. I am the Known Unknown who knew no sin, that you might be known as a child of God. I am the Eternal Word who spoke all things into creation, then became creation to speak grace to the saints. I am the King of filthy beggars whose dirty rags are cleansed white in my crimson blood. I am the Son of God who died for men, that men might become sons of God.”

“It was long ago that man plucked sin from that tree, so now I hang here that you might put your sin back up on a tree. Man’s debt was infinite, so infinity became finite to pay the impossible price. Man sinned against God, so He sent the God-Man to reconcile creation to Creator.”

The Wandering Man heard this, pondered it for a moment, and then he said, “My travels have left me filthy, I cannot be cleansed. I was born of the dust, I have walked in the dirt, I have wallowed in the mud, and I will die in my filth.”

The Forsaken Man replied, “Your wretchedness runs deep but my blood runs deeper still, and now in your death you will find life, and in your life you will find true breath. You see, when I breathe my last breath, you will breathe your first. I came to be sin for the unholy, that sinners might be holy.”

“I have become your unrighteous, now go O man, and be righteous. Put your sin back up on this tree, and wander no more.”