Good character is nothing with God. There is not a man that would have all he has done, thought, or said written on the wall of his house. But it is all out before God.
An unsaved man, left alone with his thoughts, would never turn them to Jesus Christ. When you come to know the real condition of man's heart, Christ has no place in it. It is not Christ he loves at all. Christ came and passed through this world to carry God's love to everyone. He came to sinners in their sins because they needed Him. Christ comes and shows us what we are. The law shows us what we ought to be. If the light comes in, the person is convicted, but Christ is there in perfect grace. We were under death, sin, the curse, and wrath. He came under death, sin, the curse, and wrath.
When we come before the judgment seat of Christ, whom shall we see there? The Man that put away our sins.
God would have us happy: happy in a holy walk, happy with Himself; in order that we may be happy, He has put away all our sins and made us white as snow. Then we can walk with God happily.
The glory is in the Person who bore our sins. We like to look at the glory now; every ray of it is the proof that our sins are gone. We look at it, think of it, delight in it, and then we are changed into the same image from glory to glory.
Our hearts have confidence in Him. That is faith, and then we follow Him and see where He is and get practically like Him. God has proved His righteousness by taking Christ to His right hand. Our sins are not only put away, but we are in Christ, made the righteousness of God in Him. We have sins, but God says: "I have righteousness for you." Don't tell me we can't know it. Why, Christ says we shall. "At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you." I believe what Christ says.
Christ is coming, and I believe the moment is hastening on. Supposing He came tonight. Well, I say, "Thank God, His first coming redeemed me. He is coming again to take me to be with Him in the same glory as Himself.”
What we want to learn is the wonderfulness of this love. "We have known and believed the love that God hath to us." 1 John 4:1616And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16). We shall see Him face to face whose visage was more marred than any man's. He washed us from our sins the first time He came, and He is only waiting to come and take us to Himself.
Have you seen Christ in glory in this way? God Himself has interfered, and made us as white as snow. Christ took the fruit of what we did, and we get the fruit of what He did. We are the fruit of the travail of Christ's soul. He is our everything, and we must seek to please Him in everything we do. The more we look at Him, the more we shall see what poor, weak creatures we are. But let those of us who are Christians make it our business in everything to glorify Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us.
J. N. Darby
How great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty!