This morning I felt like I should read from Paul's letter to the Romans. These verses are so significant that one really needs to just soak in them and let the truth of them saturate our heart and soul. This is the heart of God, this is what our God is like. Here are the verses - Romans 5:6-11 NIV:
[6] "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
[7] Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.
[8] But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
[9] Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
[10] For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
[11] Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
I separated the paragraphs, so that each verse is its own line for a reason. When I read, I often just crank through a paragraph and pull the one or two things out that seem important and move on, but each of these sentences deserves our attention.
The Gospel truth is so important for us to get into our lives. While we were powerless and in sin, Christ died for us. He died for all the ungodly, all the sinners, everyone. He did this because of His love for us, no other reason. One could say His love compelled Him. Please get this though, He loved us when we were powerless and sinners, not once we were saved, but while we were still sinners! If He loved us while we were still sinners, why would he become angry with us now, if we have entered into relationship with Him?
God is not like some spouse that prior to marriage is all loving and caring and interested in your happiness, but after marriage turns into a controlling, angry, manipulative, spiteful person. God IS love (1John 4:16). God is not selfish, uncaring or desirous of all control in our lives, in fact, He considers our free-will one of the most precious gifts and one that He will never take away.
In fact, Paul continues this very thought, for if we have been freely justified by Jesus' precious blood, poured out for us while we are still sinners, how much more will we be saved from God's wrath (anger). I believe Paul was focusing primarily on eternal judgment for sin here, but his statement no less applies to sin we commit in our daily lives. If God loved us while we were sinners, and loved us enough to shed His blood, and wasn't willing to release His wrath on us at the point, why would He do so now, now that we are in relationship with Him? God is not angry with us, even when we sin! He doesn't release His wrath on us, when we are sinners, before salvation, why would He do so now, when we are in relationship with Him?
Paul continues that very thought in verse 10, if we were reconciled (restored to relationship) by His death (blood and sacrifice), how much more than that will we also be saved (the Greek word here is SOZO which means saved in body, mind and spirit) through His life at work in us now that we are in relationship. His life gets applied to ours, through relationship! Thus, as Paul says, our lives our hidden in Christ (Col 3:3). When God the Father looks at us, He sees us in His precious Son Jesus. We are now, in Jesus, free from God's wrath and judgment, that is our eternal position.
This really is something to boast about, a God who loves us so completely who treats us so unfairly (unfair in the perspective that He has forgiven us every sin, paid the price for all our sin, and given us live and relationship, and we have not earned any of it) and so mercifully. God is the exact opposite of what much of the world and especially the media likes to portray Him as, an angry and judgmental God. He IS love! He is worth boasting about, better than we can possibly imagine or dream. He is so loving, so willing to restore relationship to us, that He did all this while we were still sinners, before we ever asked, before we ever had a thought about Him, before we turned our eyes and hearts towards Him. Jesus is the exact representation of the Father (Heb 1:3) both in His life and deeds while alive on the earth in human form, and in His sacrifice and death, setting us free from the Law and its penalties and punishments. The Father really is that Loving or Jesus would not be an exact representation.
So let us free ourselves from the worry and doubt, wondering if we have done something to earn God's punishment or chastisement. Let us recognize His incredible love for us. Let us embrace His salvation through relationship! Let us boast of this God whose love knows no bounds! Let us boast of His love and mercy and compassion, for they are unparalleled and unmatched. Let us boast of His greatness and love. God is not angry, He is in love with us!
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