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 God, in the person of Jesus Christ, took the initiative in searching for us.
1. God substituted Christ's perfection for our imperfection through Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.
"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the death in the body but made alive by the Spirit."
1 Peter 3:18
2. God satisfied both His love and perfection, thereby making a relationship with Him possible.
"In this is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (satisfactory payment) for our sins."
1 John 4:10
During the Great Depression, police brought an elderly man before a New York City court magistrate. The man was starving and had stolen a loaf of bread.
That night Mayor Florello LaGuardia was presiding over the court, as he sometimes did to stay close to the citizens. He fined the old man $10. "The law is the law, and cannot be broken," the mayor said. At the same time, he took a $10 bill out of his wallet and paid the fine for the man.
Then LaGuardia cited each person in the courtroom for living in a city that did not help its poor and elderly, unduly tempting them to steal. The mayor fined everyone in the audience 50 cents and gave almost $50 to the amazed defendent. Both justice and love were served when LaGuardia paid the penalty and more for the man.
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