Ephesians 2:4-5 “… because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions —it is by grace you have been saved.”
Romans 5:8 “… but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God. who loved me and gave himself for me.”
How great is God’s love for us? Scripture is clear on the subject; before we ever knew Him God loved us. Nothing we could ever think, say or do could alter that one unchanging fact. We know what God considers love to be from His own definition in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Mercy is compassion shown to an offender who is subject to one in power. Grace is unmerited or undeserved favor. We were dead men walking; dead in our own sin. The mercy and grace of God was offered to us before we knew our own condition. Traditionally, man has figured that he was good enough because of the scant ‘good’ things they had done in their lives which they felt negated the ‘bad’. Unfortunately man’s definition of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ is horribly askew. Unregenerate man has no standard to measure by, no plumb line from which to judge one’s performance. The Bible tells us that all have fallen short of God’s glory and are therefore sinners (Romans 3:23). Without God’s word as a measuring stick we would have no idea what good or bad or love truly was.
The cruel death suffered by God’s own Son is something we could never understand or appreciate in its’ totality. The ‘why’ of it is too much for us to comprehend. Are we that bad as to cause someone to actually die in our place to secure our own redemption? Truly? Yes, the Bible declares essentially that on our best day we are nothing more than grubby sinners who are self-seeking and self-absorbed. We do good when it suits us and do bad just the same. We are inconsistent in our living and have no real desire to serve anyone but ourselves if the truth be told. What God sees in us that is redeemable strikes me personally as pretty amazing in and of itself, but He does. He made us with His own hand and knows our immense potential for good, Godly living. His Son willingly died a horrible death to pay for our sins so that we might have life. There was no hesitation on God’s part to do it and Jesus’ desire to please the Father is obvious in His surrendering to the Father’s will.
What will we do with such a gift? Will we keep it all to ourselves? Place it on a shelf and dust it off every once in a great while? Or will we proclaim the glory and majesty of Almighty God and tell others about the gracious gift that is available to all men for the taking. Submission is required; giving up one’s control. God asks us to trust and believe in Him by faith. It’s a small price to pay for the life we have been given and the eternity that awaits us.
WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!!
