Spanning the Abyss

Before Eden. Before Lucifer’s fall. Before he created the Angels. God already loved you He didn’t have to, but he did. And entangled in that tremendous love was the surety of personal suffering and loss.

You see, he was willing to give anything to remove the sin barrier between Himself and His sinful, rebellious child. Anything. Even himself. The entire concept of atonement rests in the reality of this one simple, astonishing fact. In an indescribably painful act of redemption, God Himself suffered the punishment you deserve that through His sacrifice you may live-reconciled, forgiven, cleansed.

-Angel Manuel Rodriguez, Th.D., is associate director of the Biblical Research Institute of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Born in Puerto Rico, he has served as president of Antillian College and academic vice president of Southwestern Adventist University. He is a member of the American Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion.