It’s not that we ascend to God, but that he descends to us.

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But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ
to die for us while we were still sinners.
Romans 5:8 New Living Translation

Whenever I return to Oregon from Colorado I immediately feel the difference in the amount of oxygen I suck into my lungs. My house in Colorado Springs sits just shy of 7,000 feet above sea level, my hometown of Eugene is a mere 426 feet. Need I say more?

Even though I live at high altitude, I noticed the difference when I hiked around the bunkhouse and tramway of the Mary Murphy Mine. The miners who called this bunkhouse home lived at over 12,000. Climbing these four steps after a long day of mining might have felt like climbing Mt. Everest.

Mary Murphy Mine, Colorado

For some reason we think that we can climb our way into God’s heart. The rich man who approached Jesus thought that there was something he could do that would assure him that he had entered the reign of God (Mark 10:17-22). Jesus gave him that one thing, but the man left Jesus even more depressed when Jesus told him to sell his property and give the proceeds to the poor.

We cannot do anything to climb into God’s heart. Instead, God descends from heaven in his Son, Jesus Christ and brings us to himself. While we were helpless, while we were sinners, while we were destitute, Jesus died for us. Sin has left us without any oxygen, or as Paul says, it has left us dead (Ephesians 2:5). The Holy Spirit has breathed life into our lungs through Jesus’ plunge into our humanity. His death is our life.

No amount of steps could keep him from reaching us.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner