GOD'S DEMONSTRATION OF HIS LOVE FOR US!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 2022.

SUBJECT : GOD'S DEMONSTRATION OF HIS LOVE FOR US!

Memory verse: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3 vs 16.)

READ: Romans 5 vs 6 - 11:

5:6: For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

5:7: For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.

5:8: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

5:9: Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

5:10: For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

5:11: And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

INTIMATION:

God is love and wants us to realize we are loved and cared for. This is one of God's most outstanding and obvious characteristics. The message of the Gospel comes to a focus in His love for us as is stated, and demonstrated in His choice of His Son being a propitiation for our sins—taking our place in death for our sins. The Scripture says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5 vs 8). 

God sent Jesus Christ to die for us, not because we were good enough, but just because He loved us. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (First John 4 vs 10). Here God sets the pattern of true love or passion for others, setting the pattern for all true love relationships. 

When you love someone dearly, you are ready and willing to give freely to the point of self-sacrifice. For His love, God paid dearly with the life of His Son, the highest price He could pay, and such is unheard of in history. Jesus accepted wholeheartedly to take our place, paid the wages we owed for our sins (Ezekiel 18 vs 4 & Romans 6 vs 23). He exchanged something of inestimable value with something completely worthless—our sins. And He offered us the new life that He had bought for us. 

The apostle Paul, in the passage we read today, expounded the love of God for us. He explained that when we were weak and helpless because we could do nothing on our own to save ourselves, Christ had to come to rescue us. He came at exactly the right time in history in accordance with God's plan and schedule. It is God that controls all history, and He controlled the timing, method, and events surrounding Jesus' death. God sent Jesus to die for us, not because we were good enough, but just because He loved us and is passionate about our well being.

The apostle Paul explained that the love that caused God to create the world for an extension of His kingdom, and caused Christ to die in our place, is the same love that sends the Holy Spirit to live in us and guide us daily. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that saved us and is available to us in our daily lives. 

God is a Passionate Father. In Psalms 103 vs 13 the psalmist reminds us: "As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him." Jesus demonstrated this the day the disciples found themselves on the Sea of Galilee, and a storm was brewing, which is typical of the Sea of Galilee even today. The boat containing these disciples started to take in water because of the turbulence. With the boat beginning to sink, these terrified disciples asked the ultimate question, "Lord, don't You care?" Of course He cares!

Many of us have at one time or the other felt like that, "Lord where are You when I really need You?" "God, I'm going under, don't You care?" But a believer and a child of God will remember the promise stated in First Peter 5 vs 7, "Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you."

Be assured that, having begun a life with Christ, you have a reservoir of power and love to call on each day for help to meet every challenge or trial. Too often, in our spiritual life, although we may need to love God more, there is a much higher need to recognize just how much He loves us. When our relationship is such that we feel God's love and His passion for us—His children, we naturally begin to love Him more. You can pray for His power and love as you need it.

In Psalms 145 vs 18 the psalmist tells us, "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth." What this means is that He is never too busy for you. When you pray, you will never get busy signal. He hears you and ready to meet your real need. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank you for Your love for me. You have daily loaded me with Your benefits, always forgiving me my iniquities, healing me all my diseases, redeeming my life from distractions, satisfying my mouth with good things, so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's, and crowning me with loving kindness and tender mercies. Give me the grace to toe my path of life  in You, in Jesus' Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!