God’s love

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will 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.”

My Holy Week thoughts inevitably brought me to John 3:16-18… it captures the depth and the quality of God’s love for us that is the essence of this holiest of seasons. It is a love that is beyond what we can imagine.

How can we explain this simply? God created us after His own image. He considers us His children. He wants to share with us the inheritance of His heavenly kingdom. But sin separated us from Him.

Still, God was not ready to give up on us. He sent his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ to earth to become man and be a perfect sacrifice on the cross so our sins may be forgiven and man can have eternal life with Him in heaven.

In other words, Holy Week is about two things: sin and redemption.

God is perfectly holy and detests sin. Small sin, big sin, mortal sin, venial sin. Sin is sin and God hates sin. Sin must be punished with the shedding of blood.

In early biblical times, they sacrificed cattle, goats, sheep and pigeons that were totally without any defect to provide blood offerings to atone for man’s sins. But the blood of animals is not enough for the forgiveness of man’s sins.

God loves His creation so much that He made a way by which man can be redeemed. But the price was extremely high. His own Son, totally blameless of any sin, must suffer and die, shed blood to wash away the sins of the world. This is the only pathway to our salvation and eternal life.

Consider this: Romans 5:8 says “God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were unrepentant sinners.”

That’s what this week is about. For us sinners, it is a time for reflection and penance. For God, it is Valentines Week, so to speak, a time when He pulled out all the stops and poured all His love on all of us unworthy and sinful souls.

Mercy and grace. God loves us so much that He sacrificed his Son to give us the gift of eternal life. If we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are justified by faith.

In Christian theology, justification is God’s righteous act of removing the condemnation, guilt, and penalty of sin, by grace, while, at the same time, declaring the unrighteous to be righteous, through faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice.

Here is the good part as revealed in John 5:24: “I assure you: Anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.”

Then again in John 10:28-30 “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

So, a true believer can never lose his salvation. He is  eternally secure. Once saved, always saved! This is the message of Romans 8:38-39:

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

That’s because Christ already suffered the penalties for our sins, so there is no further condemnation waiting for us. Sin has physical penalties, but for those who are in Christ, it has no ultimate penalty.

How did this wonderful thing happen to wretched sinners?

This was explained in Ephesians 2:4-5: “God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. It is only  by God’s grace that we have been saved.”

And think about this: the God who created the universe, knows you by name and loves you personally. He wants to be part of your life.

The Bible says God loves you even if you may think you are the worst sinner in the world. God’s love is unconditional and infinite. Repentance and belief in the saving power of Christ is all you need.

As redeemed children of God, we ought to act like one by spreading the love he gave us. John 13:34-35 quotes Jesus telling us this:  “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples.”

And how much must we love each other? Jesus tells us in Matthew 5: 43-48:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Ah, this is radical love. Not easy but God expects that of His children.

There it is. Holy Week is all about love… the love of an almighty God and His Son who want nothing less than to welcome us in the heavenly realm to enjoy eternal life in His presence.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco