How much does God love us? Did you ever stop to wonder about this? Let's face it, we're not so easy to love. We have many faults and undesirable qualities which make it very difficult for even us to tolerate one another; yet God still manages to overlook these things and love us unconditionally. Is that cool, or what? This is precisely what I would like to discuss with you today: God's love for us.
God’s love for us is what motivated Him to send Christ into the world to save us. Christ paid for our sins, which had separated us from Him. This sacrifice not only brings us peace with God, it also brings us into a personal, loving relationship with Him (Romans 5:1-5). God’s atoning love through Christ is the source of all our spiritual blessings.
Another way God shows His love for us is by calling us out of the darkness of sin and into the light of fellowship with Him. Even more, because God has called us to Himself, He promises to protect that relationship (John 10:28) and never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-25). God’s calling love is a promise to always be with us.
Because of our sinful nature, we have no power to fulfill God’s law. But God’s love is shown through Christ who redeemed, or paid, the price we owed for our rebellion (Galatians 3:13). God’s redeeming love frees us from guilt and fear.
God’s love is shown by justifying us (or declaring us innocent) by grace through faith in Christ. Christ is treated as if he were the sinner, and the sinner is treated as if he were the righteous one. God now sees us through Christ’s righteousness instead of through our sin. God’s justifying love allows us to stand accepted before Him (Romans 3:23-25).
God shows His love for us by not only forgiving us of our sins, but by going even further and bringing us into His family. He has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints (Colossians 1:12). This inheritance includes salvation, strength, hope, peace, comfort, providence, fellowship and so much more!
Still another way God also shows His love is by sanctifying, or setting us apart, for His purpose. We’re sanctified in two ways: positionally and progressively.
We’re sanctified “positionally” when we come to Christ. In the Old Testament the priests would continually make sacrifices because they never permanently paid for sin. But Christ offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice and has paid for our sins once and for all. So we’ve sanctified, or set apart, to obtain salvation through Christ.
We’re also sanctified “progressively” throughout our Christian lives. Progressive sanctification isn't about our salvation — we’re saved by grace and not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9) — it’s about how we live after we've been saved.
Progressive sanctification is the process of dying to sin and living for Christ by becoming more like Him. It’s about producing the fruits of the Spirit as opposed to producing the fruits of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-23). God’s sanctifying love sets us apart for His special plans. God’s adopting love allows us to call Him “Father."
Finally, God shows His love by glorifying us. Throughout our lives we’ll wrestle with sin, but we’re promised that the good work God begins in us will be completed (Philippians 1:6). When we go to be with the Lord our sinful nature will be left behind and we’ll like Him, and with Him, forever. God’s glorifying love is the ultimate destination for Christians.
Now, let's pray...
O Father, give us the humility which realizes its ignorance, admits its mistakes, recognizes its need, welcomes advice, accepts rebuke. Help us always to praise rather than to criticize, to sympathize rather than to discourage, to build rather than to destroy, and to think of people at their best rather than at their worst. This we ask for in thy name's sake. Amen
O Father, give us the humility which realizes its ignorance, admits its mistakes, recognizes its need, welcomes advice, accepts rebuke. Help us always to praise rather than to criticize, to sympathize rather than to discourage, to build rather than to destroy, and to think of people at their best rather than at their worst. This we ask for in thy name's sake. Amen
Have a blessed week!
Bibi
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