He Loved Us (First)
God Loves All Mankind Since Before Creation - We are in His Hands
BY LOVING OTHERS GODS LOVE IS REVEALED
Just how real is God’s love for mankind? Let us first review four verses from the Christian Standard Bible.
Romans 5:8 “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Jeremiah 31:2-3 “This is what the Lord says: the people who survived the sword found favor in the wilderness. When Israel went to find rest, the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.”
1 John 4:16 “And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.”
Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God who is rich in mercy, because of his great love for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace.”
God’s love abides forever, and He wants us to be sure of His love for us.
1 John 4:7-10 “Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who has love has been born of God and Knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God’s love was revealed among us this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
This theme is repeated in many verses in Scripture, especially with the writings of John (1 John 2:7-11; 3:11-18). This is his third time to deal with this. It is that important. His point is that not only is God love, but Christ is the manifestation of that love. Living proof. The Greek word for Son as used in these verses is monogenes … the same word to describe Abraham’s son Isaac, whom Abraham offered up faithfully to God. God spared Abraham’s son, but not his own! Christ died for our sins. God sacrificed along with Christ in that he watched His Son die on the cross. How could we not understand the loss of a child, even temporarily. God has held back nothing for us.
1 John 4:11-13 “Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we must also love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is made complete in us. this is ow we know that we remain in him and he in us: he has given us his Spirit.”
God’s love is in and through us. It should be clear that loving others is us sharing God’s love. It is not in our nature to do this. It is the Holy Spirit within us that helps us meet this task. When we cooperate with God in his desire for us to let him and his Son to live through us we are supporting God’s plan for regathering his family to him though redemption. It should be our pleasure to act this way. Remember, His gift to us is in His giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins.
There are many ways for us to live this out daily.
Pray for those whom you have a difficult time loving.
Review your prayer list. Find ways to show your love for those on that list. When can you do that, and how? Find an accountability partner to hold you to your commitment.
Pay attention to the times you find someone in need. Send care packages, a loving note, begin volunteering in a ministry that helps the poor or homeless or just start helping a family you know that has needs and visiting the elderly are all good places to start.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command then these.”
Mark 12:30-31 CSB
The Word Became Flesh - Love Came to Earth
1 John 4:19-21 “We love because he loved us first. If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And we have this command from him: the one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.”
That statement is as plain and direct as it can be. It is an “if, then” statement. We cannot parse it out to arrive at an alternative meaning. A true Christian cannot harbor hatred in their heart for anyone. We of course should hate the sin, but we must love the sinner. God does this and as we are not greater than God, we must emulate what he does. Be like Him. This verse is filled with truth, logic and it is not disputable by anyone claiming to love Christ.
Walk in love. Review the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. Take the time to review this story. Make this parable more embedded in your mind by finding it and reading it. It will be easy for us to find the ways that our acting out love can be manifested. The Samaritan acted without hesitation as he moved in love for another in need. He did not need to find a check list; it was his way of living. Love conquers all. It is not easy. We seek to ignore those who can hate us, and we avoid doing the difficult thing. I once read this, “Who can do the difficult thing, he who can.” I cannot, but the Holy Spirit can if I let him guide me. I know that you can too! Again, understand that you're acting out of love is revealing God’s love to others. I will be bold like John and tell you that you should not claim to be a Christian and fail to share God’s love with others. God has demonstrated His love for us in His son. How could we possibly justify not passing this on to others. What we have come to believe is precious. We know that He loves us just through this quick review of verses from Scripture. Bring this love into your circle of living now.
“If you love me, you will keep my commands.” Christ speaking in John 14:15
“Take your stand on the rock of ages. Let death, let the judgment come: the victory is Christ’s and yours though Him.”
Dwight L. Moody
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WORDS WE SHOULD KNOW
GRACE: Unmerited, unearned, favor - favor from God we cannot earn or work for.
JUSTIFICATION: Declared innocent, free of, acquitted - for us guilty but declared innocent.
REDEMPTION: Ransom paid in full, bought from slavery to sin, free from captivity, a demanded price paid in full, our debt paid by the shed blood of Christ.
IMPUTATION: A credit to our account, Christ’s righteousness is place on our account, added without thought of repayment, it is free.
PROPITIATION: Our place was taken by Christ, a substitute was offered, atonement, our sin debt covered/satisfied, every wrong appeased.
RECONCILIATION: A right relationship with God brought into harmony, peace with God, Christ’s substitutionary death restores us upon our accepting him as savior, all accounts settled.
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Christ holds out his hand to all
of us constantly -
we cannot gain His favor
unless we accept Him
as our Savior!
The moment a person reaches out to take Jesus’ hand he is saved. The lifeline of all lifelines is available to each of us constantly. Nothing can be done to earn that hand of help before or after your acceptance. The only thing that thing that stands between you and salvation is pride. No one wants to hear that they must “get over” themselves, but that is what has to happen. God does not offer a soft request to sinners. He is the Creator and demands everything from you for everything that He will do for you. There is no such thing as “easy believing!” We are sinners, one and all. We deserve nothing, nevertheless God offers you salvation and an eternity with Him and His Son if you will yield. Do not wait. No one is promised tomorrow. As is quoted in the verses above, rejection of Christ is a ticket to eternal punishment.
Hesitation is an answer and can doom one to Hell, where the fires burn forever. These are not my words or concepts. They exist in Holy Scripture. Sadly, too many will not share this truth with you. Who knows why anyone would leave this part out of the reality of God and His plan? If I were with you this moment, I would say the same things out of my love for you in Christ. This entire posting is about knowing that God loves us, and I am commanded to love you. That starts with honesty about our relationship with the Creator who made us because he wanted a family. Search your heart and reach out to God for answers. I am comfortable suggesting to you that you pray to Him and ask him to reveal himself to you. You will be surprised. May God bless you in your search for truth.
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PRAYER POINT: SILENT PRAYER
“But thou, when thy prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to the Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:6 KJV
Does God “hear” our silent prayers? Yes. We may pray silently and/or out loud as God knows everything that we do. 1 John 3:20 NIV. “Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything. As Christians we are filled with the Holy Spirit. God is all knowing. Jesus knew the hearts of the all the people he encountered; Matthew 9:4 CSB “Perceiving their hearts, Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil things in our hearts.” God hears the thoughts and words we utter at all times. There is no loss of sincerity or falsehood with silence. He knows what we are doing while praying, be it in silence or out loud.
Often times we are not able to express in words those things we consider about our concerns, hopes and needs. It may be frustrating to be unable to express yourself clearly to God. When words fail, our emotions and thoughts will be understandable to God. Just be with him in silence. For some silent prayer whether in word or thought only is a habit. Being contemplative with God is very acceptable. You create a space to meet with God in your heart and mind. Everything can be handled in that wonderful silence. it can be your prayer closet. Often times it is much more intimate. You can actually hear Him more clearly.
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 NIV
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 CSB
“But I will see your face in righteousness; When I awake I will be satisfied with your presence.” Psalm 17:15 CSB
“You know when I sit down and when I stand up; you know my thoughts from far away. Before a word is on my tongue; you know all about it, Lord.” Psalm 139:2, 4 CSB
Meet God where you can and any way you can, He is waiting for you now.
