The Greatest Act Of Love

The Roman centurion who supervised the execution of Jesus was astonished both by the darkness that preceded Jesus' death and by the violent earthquake that followed it. "Certainly this was God's Son," he said. (Matthew 27:54) Clearly, Jesus was no ordinary man. That soldier had helped to execute the only-begotten Son of the Most High God! Just how dear was this Son to his Father?

The Bible calls Jesus "the firstborn of all creation." (Colossians 1:15) Just think-Jehovah's Son was in existence before the physical universe. How long, then, were Father and Son together? Some scientists estimate that the universe is 13 billion years old. Can you even imagine that much time? To help people grasp the age of the universe as estimated by scientists, one planetarium features a time line 360 feet long. As visitors walk along that time line, each step they take represents about 75 million years in the life of the universe. At the end of the time line, all human history is represented by a single mark the thickness of one human hair! Yet, even if this estimate is correct, that entire time line would not be long enough to represent the life span of Jehovah's Son! How was he occupied during all those ages?

The Son happily served as his Father's "master worker." (Proverbs 8:30) The Bible says: "Apart from [the Son] not even one thing came into existence." (John 1:3) So Jehovah and his Son worked together to bring all other things into being. What thrilling, happy times they had! Now, many will agree that the love between parent and child is amazingly strong. And love "is a perfect bond of union." (Colossians 3:14) Who of us, then, can begin to fathom the power of a bond that has existed over such an immense span of time? Clearly, Jehovah God and his Son are united by the strongest bond of love ever forged.

Next time: Conclusion of The Greatest Act Of Love

Draw Close To Jehovah, 2002