“…
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
Is there anyone in this life that you would die
for, perhaps your spouse or your children?
But what about someone you didn’t know or someone you didn’t care
for? That isn’t a really good comparison
because God knows us all and cares for us all, but the catch is that He knows
us with all our flaws and ungodly tendencies and yet still loves us. If there is someone that is at odds with me
or dislikes me for one reason or another I will tend to avoid their company,
not love them. Christ didn’t die for us once we loved Him, He died for us when
we were either against Him or at the
very least ambivalent1 towards Him. God loved us before we even knew Him and was
willing to show us that love in a very tangible, physical way by becoming one
of us and allowing Himself to be slaughtered for us.
Using the word slaughtered may seem over the top to some,
but no cinematic depiction or painting has ever done justice to what Christ
went through. Read Isaiah 52:14 and
you’ll see what I mean: “But many were
amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human,
and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man.” 2 That is what Jesus Christ went
through for you and I. There’s no way to
sugar coat it. Do you realize that that
punishment was meant for you? Do you
understand what He did for you? Why has
it not changed our lives any more than it has?
I think it’s because we are too bound up in what we can experience with
our senses. Our faith is limited for
some reason. We fail to fully realize
what God has done or is capable of.
There is nothing that He
cannot and will not do for us. The word impossible simply does not exist in
God’s economy.
It’s true; while we were still separated from our Creator He
loved us to the point of death. Not just any death, a truly gruesome, horrific
death the likes no man has ever seen before or since. Bask in that truth. Know that your God loves you more than anyone
ever has or will. Know that nothing can
change His love for you. Let that
astounding truth resonate in your soul and change you forever. Until next time, walk with the King and be a
blessing!
1 uncertain or undecided
[Collins Thesaurus of the English Language]
2 The New Living
Translation; Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; 2006.
