A remarkable quality about the self-portrait in the spherical mirror is that, no matter where the mirror might have been placed in relation to the viewer, the eyes of the viewer will always be in the dead center of the mirror. Whether he had held the ball inches away or an arm’s length away, at eye level, shoulder level or above his head, it would have made no difference. There is really no escaping the phenomenon of always being at the dead center of a spherical mirror when looking into it.
Just as there is no escaping the phenomenon of being at the center of a spherical mirror for whoever is looking into it, so there is no escaping the truth that every individual is at the center of God’s attention. Whether you are upright or wretched, atheist or believer, small or great in the eyes of others, you are, as an individual, at the center of God’s attention. Someone from a long time ago once said, “The nature of God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference is nowhere.” The saying describes how God looks on the world and individuals in particular. He knows everything about you, sees all you do, and knows your every undertaking. He knows all this as if nothing else beside you ever existed and all His infinite power was directed toward you alone.
As men, we possess the limited ability to concentrate on a few objects at a time. But God is infinite and not limited by time or space. Therefore, He knows all things, at all times, and in a perfect way. There is no place where you may hide from His sight. You cannot disappear into a crowd. No darkness is thick enough to block out His vision, nor is there any place where you can escape His presence.
It is the nature of a spherical mirror that when you look into it, you will see yourself at the very center of it. And it is the nature of God that wherever you are, whatever you are doing, God’s attention is centered on you.
As His attention is focused on you, so also is His love. So that all men might know the greatness of His love, He sent His Son into the world. In His life the Lord Jesus glorified God by His unerring obedience which eventually led Him to the cross. In His death He made a way that hell-deserving sinners might be saved. “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)). The same immense love that brought the Lord Jesus to the cross is in the world today seeking out sinners to bring them home to Himself. The way to enter into God’s favor for time and eternity is open to all because the blood shed on Calvary has the power to wash away the repentant sinner’s every stain of sin. “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)).
Since He knows you so well, there is no sense trying to pretend that you are not a sinner. It is probably true that you have done many good things in your life-acts of kindness, keeping the law, paying your taxes on time, loving your family, or many other acts that are praiseworthy—but nonetheless the truth is that at the same time you have done those worthwhile things your heart inside you was not right before God. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart” (Jer. 17:9-109The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:9‑10)). The undeniable truth is you are far from perfect, you have committed sin, and you are marked as a sinner in God’s sight. The God who sees all and knows all has said very clearly in His Word, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)).
Because we are sinners, we all desperately need the Savior. Through His work on the cross, the Lord Jesus has obtained the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life for all who turn to Him in faith. Once you are saved, He wants you to learn more of His love and live as His dear child. Make no mistake, you are at the center of God’s attention. This same God, who knows all about you, wants you to come to Christ and to receive His wonderful gift of eternal life—eternal love.
Can you refuse His love and continue to live as if God were far off and Christ never died for you? Or will you return to the God who loves you and gave His Son for you that you might have life?