"THE CRAFTSMAN AT GOD’S SIDE" Part 2 of 2

by John Lowe
(Woodruff, S.C.)

In 1989, on a routine flight from Chicago, an airplane’s middle engine fell apart. Pieces of the blade flew through the air, cutting the plane’s hydraulic lines. The pilot made an emergency landing in Sioux City, Iowa. The video footage of the plane somersaulting down the runway in a ball of fire was shown on the national news. About half of the passengers on board were killed. It took years to discover the cause of the crash. It was finally concluded that when the titanium fan hub was manufactured, an almost microscopic bubble remained on the metal. That little bubble went undetected for 20 years, but it finally led to a tiny crack, which led to a bigger crack, which led to the entire plane going down.

When Christ crafted the universe, there was nothing wrong with it. But he saw that sin was coming, a tiny mistake that his human beings would make, which could lead to the entire world going down. And so, after crafting the world, Jesus crafted something else – our salvation.

Verse 31 of Proverbs tells us why Christ was willing to die for us. It’s because He “delighted in mankind.” That’s His unexplainable love that the Bible calls grace.

In verse 35, Jesus talks about eternal life, when he says, “For whoever finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the Lord.” The blueprint that Jesus followed when he crafted our salvation was a very difficult one. He had to stop being the craftsman AT THE FATHER’S SIDE. He had to leave the Father, and go to the cross.

There on the cross, Jesus was separated from His Heavenly Father, far, far, away from his Father’s presence. Jesus even expressed that, when He said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” How painful this must have been for Christ. Remember, he had been at the Father’s side from eternity. He was at the creation of the world. Together, they had delighted in mankind. But as He hung from the cross, the Father sacrificed his Son, and turned his back on Him. That’s how Christ crafted our salvation – by allowing Himself to be torn away from His Father’s side, dying as a sacrifice for the sins of all mankind.

It’s been said that great things aren’t made without great sacrifice. On this day, almost 73 years ago, D-Day took place, when thousands of soldiers sacrificed themselves as they stormed the beaches of France. They made something that day. You could say that each one of those soldiers was a craftsman, and what they crafted was freedom. And they did that by sacrificing their lives, 73 years ago.

The “Christian D-Day” was Good Friday. On that day, Christ stormed the hill called Golgotha. He was a man, but he was also God from eternity, and there on that hill, he crafted our salvation by sacrificing his life. There has never been anything greater ever crafted, at such a great sacrifice, than the salvation of mankind, which Christ made for us. Then the Father raised His Son from the dead on Easter morning. And then Christ ascended into heaven, once again assuming His place at the Father’s side.

Today the Father and the Son share with us the Holy Spirit, who works in us, once again like a craftsman. And what is it that the Holy Spirit crafts inside of us? It’s our faith. And so today, on this Lord’s Day, we stand back in awe. All of these things are just too lofty, too profound, for us to fully understand. We stand in awe especially of Christ, the craftsman at the Father’s side, the maker of our world. But more than that, he is the maker of our salvation.

Today, we thank him, and honor him, and worship him.