Indeed, we see his holiness and love all through his earthly life, but above all at its end.  He had come from the glory and the unity of Heaven into this world of misery and conflict, “…for us men and for our salvation…” (1): to deliver us from the control and grip of our personal sins.  That in itself revealed his attitude to sin, for unless it was utterly loathsome to him he would not have given up of his own free will the bliss of eternity in order to save us from our own sins.

But to understand fully the attitude of the Divine mind to our sins, we have to turn to the Crucifixion.  There we see how the eternal God preferred to be pegged out on the Cross to die, rather than allow us to remain the helpless victims of our sins.

For his mission to the world was inspired by the active hostility to evil of absolute holiness, holiness that cannot rest until everything that defiles is swept away.

Yet equally it was inspired by his infinite love for the sinner, love that also cannot rest until you and I are holy as he is.  If he loved us half-heartedly he would not bother to save us from that complete separation from him and that utter misery, to which sin inevitably leads if it is not eradicated from the soul.  The actual depth of his love, however, may be measured by that horrible Crucifixion which he willingly accepted – indeed embraced – for our sakes.