"If not for Jesus, I'd be undone,
Love of the Father, death of the Son.
If not for Jesus, God come in flesh
to bear my sin, and my wretchedness.

      These words came to me as a student at CIU during a philosophy 101 class in which we were debating human suffering.  As we discussed this heavy topic, the thought came to me that most people see God as far removed from our human suffering.  As if he were a sadistic cop, God stands behind the one way glass of an interrogation cell, witnessing our misery but doing nothing to help.  This is not what history tells us at all.  Jesus was not standing behind any sort of buffer to our misery when he was crucified.  He received in himself the fullness of human suffering, that the undeserving might receive the fullness of heavenly life.
      In human pride we can be quick to demand an accounting of God for suffering in the world, but only if we close our eyes to the cross.  What can we really say to God once we have seen the suffering servant?  We can say, truthfully, if not for Jesus I'd be undone