Hi Everyone
This is the second instalment of the "I am Loved and Accepted Completely in Christ" chapter of the "Who I Am In Jesus Christ" Bible Study.
Do share this around as you are blessed.
Blessings!
Chris
God Loved Me First!
Jesus loves me this I know - for the Bible tells me so. This is a simple line from a Sunday School song that if we really meditated on a little more, has such great depths of significance. Jesus loves each of us independently and that love we know, not because we feel it first, but because it was said in the Bible.
We need to know the love of this God whom we serve. It is important to know the way He loved us, the ways He loves us, to catch a glimpse of the magnitude of His love for us. This will guide the way we relate with Him. How we see Him will determine how far we go in life.
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (NKJV)
If we fail to see the glory of God in us when we face the mirror of the Word, we won’t go from glory to glory and will not be transformed. The one who is transformed the most is the one who sees the glory the most. If at every time we look into the Word, we see through the eyes of condemnation, we see rules, we see laws, we won’t go far. We need to behold glory, light, love. When we see that He loves us so much, it will transform us from glory to glory.
All Who Don't Qualify, Qualify
Romans 5:6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (NKJV)
Think of the WORST “sinner” you can. God sent Christ with him in mind, to save the unlovely.
He Has Always Loved Us
From the very beginning, we were His creations. He has always loved us.
- The Old Testament was the story of how He laid the plans for the rescue of Man.
- The Gospels show the plan unfolding.
- The rest of the New Testament testifies of the effects of the successful mission.
God did not change His mind when Christ was crucified. It was not that He was angry with Man until Jesus appeased Him. He loved us even in the Old Testament. We see in the book of Psalms how the words “lovingkindess”/”kindness”/”mercy” (same word in Hebrew) appeared 127 times! The phrase “tender mercy” which has connotations to compassion like in the womb of a mother appears 9 times.
Psalm 136, probably written by David, gives us a glimpse of what he thought of God’s goodness:
Psalm 136:
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.
4 to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.
5 who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.
6 who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.
7 who made the great lights— His love endures forever.
8 the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.
10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt His love endures forever.
11 and brought Israel out from among them His love endures forever.
12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever.
13 to him who divided the Red Sea asunder His love endures forever.
14 and brought Israel through the midst of it, His love endures forever.
15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever.
16 to him who led his people through the desert, His love endures forever.
17 who struck down great kings, His love endures forever.
18 and killed mighty kings— His love endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites His love endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan— His love endures forever.
21 and gave their land as an inheritance, His love endures forever.
22 an inheritance to his servant Israel; His love endures forever.
23 to the One who remembered us in our low estate His love endures forever.
24 and freed us from our enemies, His love endures forever.
25 and who gives food to every creature. His love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever. (NIV)
Yes, David was convinced of God’s enduring, unfailing love for him and the people he led as king.
The big difference moving into the New Testament is that what Jesus did satisfied the requirement to allow a Holy God to commune with sinful man. Jesus paid the price that needed to be paid. God had the means, to make Him who knew no sin to be sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.
Like children in an orphanage, the Father who wanted to adopt us loved us all the while but was unable to have a relationship with us until the adoption process was done. Jesus’ work on the cross was that process and now we enjoy sweet fellowship with Him.
We were made from “cockroaches to humans”, from flesh to Spirit and can now have relationship with Father God. We were made alive in the realm that He exists in, the realm of the Spirit.
1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. (NKJV)
Like cockroaches trying to figure out humans!
1 John 4:9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 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. (NKJV)
John 17:23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. (NKJV)
God loved Jesus from the beginning. His love for Jesus did not change suddenly somewhere along the way. It was the same from Day 1. It’s the same for us – He loved us from the beginning too, just like He loved Jesus!
The World is saved when they see clearly that God loves. If we don't realize the glory of God, His immense goodness toward us, if we don't know, don't find out, don't believe, don't get infected by the vast richness of His love to us, the World won't know that God loves us just as He loves Jesus.
Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (NKJV)
We are saved by faith, not by feeling. There may not be any feelings, but when we learn to walk according to what the Word says, we walk by faith, not by sight. I know His love by faith. I receive it by believing. Once I taste, I will see that He IS good. Not that I don’t have feelings, but I choose which feelings to accept. Feelings driven by my 5 senses are of the flesh. The flesh profits nothing (John 6:63). Feelings need to follow faith – our emotions are NOT our masters.
If God loved us while we were still sinners, how much more now that we are His children? The adoption was completed and we have sweet relationship. When we decide that He is worthy of our submission to Him, great things happen in our lives.
Romans 8:28a And we know that all things work together for good…
If we don’t know God’s goodness enough, that we don’t love Him and aren't doing things the way He planned for us, we might not be the ones who can lay claim to this promise.
Romans 8:28b …to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (NKJV)
The key is realizing that His way of doing things is better. Going by the Spirit, what the Word says, is much better than going according to how we feel and this is submitting to God:
James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (NKJV)
1 Peter 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (NKJV)
He Loves Us Now and Forever
Like a young man wooing a lady, God is coming to us today in the finished work of Christ, the Gospel, the Word of Grace. With a diamond engagement ring, He is on one knee with us, inviting us to accept His love.
Those among us who have accepted, we now are the ambassadors bringing that message to the world – the Gospel of Grace, the good news of His love.
2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. (NKJV)
The Take Away
God has always loved us from the beginning - we are His creation, the only ones ever made in His image
The Bible is the love story of the plan unfolding
The Old Testament up to the Gospels is the story of the Rescue Plan unfolding
The New Testament is what He has bought for us through the success of this plan
He has accomplished many great things that we need to receive by grace
We receive these by faith, not feeling
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