God's love-The Gift

God's love towards us, His estranged creation, is graphically depicted in the sacrifice He made on our behalf. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13 NIV).

Jesus Christ, is God's unique and eternal Son.¹ He is the Alpha and Omega,² the Great I AM,³ the "Mighty God"⁴ by whom all things were created⁵ and in whom all things consist.⁶ Jesus, who is the head of all things,⁷ humbled Himself in such a way that the human mind couldn't even bare the thought of it. He came into this sin-cursed world and actively partook in our sufferings. Even as we are flesh and blood, He shared in the same.⁸ He became a man and dwelt among us.⁹ He shared in the sufferings we brought upon ourselves through our rejection of His holy precepts.¹⁰ And as if that were not enough to convince us of His love and concern for us, Jesus, the immortal God and the Giver of Life, gave up His own life upon the cross in the greatest act of love the world has ever known! In doing so He took our sins away, effectively nailing them to the cross with Himself. Thus, He who knew no sin became sin for us¹¹ and He who gave life to all, tasted death for those condemned to it.¹²

This is God's love! "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:16-17). Jesus Christ loved the world so much that He gave everything for it, from His rights and privileges as the unique eternal Son of God, to His very life! If you want to see the love of God, look to the cross. "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10). "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

God's love has been made known to us and now He stands at the door and knocks.¹³ It's up to every individual to either pursue a personal relationship with God or else reject Him outright. The only barrier between us and God's love is our own freewill and Jesus Christ is the door.¹⁴"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'" (John 14:6). Salvation is a free gift bought and paid for by the blood of Christ. There is no other way. "…Do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" (Galatians 2:21). You can't earn God's forgiveness through good works. How will doing the good works that you should have done all your life make up for the countless times you've failed? God's no fool. You can "use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me…" (Jeremiah 2:22).

A man once fell on his knees before Christ and begged, "If You are willing, You can make me clean." Christ, "filled with compassion" replied, "I am willing; be clean" (Mark 1:40-41). We too can fall on our knees and acknowledge God's only provision for our sins. We too can hear, "I am willing; be clean." Christ willingly took God's righteous indignation upon Himself so that you don't have to; whoever accepts His death upon the cross as payment for their sins will be reconciled to the God whom they've offended. "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ…God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them…God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:18-19, 21). Will you accept God's love today?

Footnotes:
Bible References: ¹John 1:1-3; 3:16; ²Revelation 1:8; cf. Revelation 1:13-18, 21:4-7; 22:6-7, 12-16, 20; ³John 8:56-59; cf. Exodus 3:13-14; ⁴Isaiah 9:6; ⁵Colossians 1:16; ⁶Colossians 1:17; ⁷Colossians 1:17; 2:10;⁸Hebrews 2:14; ⁹John 1:14; cf. John 1:1-3; ¹⁰Galatians 6:7; 1 Peter 3:18;¹¹2 Corinthians 5:21; ¹²Hebrews 2:9; ¹³Revelation 3:20; ¹⁴John 10:1-7.