This selection takes the everyday assumptions about the good, the bad, and the ugly things in the world and flips it upside down. God cast out the natural hierarchy among people. Furthermore, the things of greatest value are now given to us by Christ in that he has actually become our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. In a way there now exists two classes, the collective us, and him. Binary.
A binary system can only exist in one of two states, on or off, One or Zero, in this case, perfect or imperfect. This kind of exclusivity makes some people very uncomfortable. We tend to relate better to a base 10 system, where we can be better than some and different from others.
When we strive for perfection in everything we do, we are still never any closer to perfect. We still need both mercy and grace simply because we are not perfect. When I spend time and effort to look nice, I’m always a little disappointed because I’m still disabled.
The One, the perfect Jesus Christ, has bridged the binary system and allowed us lowly zeros to be “ones through him
All of a sudden our shortcomings become representations of God’s grace, putting his loving kindness on display.
Jonathan Duncan