Everlasting thanks to Thee, Lord Jesus!
I need not first grow up in wickedness, and
then painfully return, with blemishes and
scars on my soul, to undo with sorrow what
has been done in sin. I need not learn to
neglect and hate Thee first, and then after-
wards to seek and love Thee. I may grow up
in piety, so as not to be able to remember a
time when I did not love Thee. From child-
hood I may wax strong in spirit, be filled
with wisdom, and have the grace of God
upon me.
Beautiful childhood, which is fashioned
after Thine own, Holy Child Jesus!
Christ is our attorney and His portfolio is His propitiation. He stands before His Father in heaven, and every time we sin, He doesn't make a new propitiation. He doesn't die again and again. Instead He opens his portfolio and lays the exhibits of Good Friday on the bench before the Judge. Photographs of the crown of thorns, the lashing, the mocking soldiers, the agonies of the cross, and the final cry of victory: It is finished.
John Piper