Amazing Love

1013/12 Christ died for me! How many times have we spoken to someone about love? We have no doubt told people we love them. But when someone is willing to suffer for me, or even instead of me, I know that they love me because they demonstrate it. This is how I can know that God loves me because He died for me. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God made his love so conspicuous that it is almost impossible to miss it. God the Son died for me! What amazing love! “Amazing love! How can it be that thou my God should die for me!” (Chorus from the song, “And Can It Be”) God manifested in the flesh, died for me. Some have difficulty believing that God the Son died because some don’t believe that Jesus is God. But if Jesus was anything other than God, God would not be loving. If Jesus was a created being then God sent someone or something to do His work of love. That would make God to be some kind of cruel despot that would send someone else to suffer and die so that people would love Him. It would be like you paying someone else to suffer so that people would love you. Our affections and desires are toward people who actually suffer on behalf of others. We are drawn to people who willingly suffer for the good of others. When God demonstrated His love, God came in the flesh suffered and died so that we might live. Also, if Jesus was not God then when He came to reconcile us it was based on a lie. His claim to take on our sins would be false. He claimed that He would reconcile those who broke the law and put those sins away from them. He was actually breaking God’s law instead of fulfilling it. If Jesus wasn’t who He said He was then He was actually an enemy of God because only God can remove sin and reconcile sinners. Think of it this way: A terrible crime has been committed against you. Then someone tells you that they went to the person who offended you and forgave them. That would be wrong because that person wasn’t offended, you were. And only you have the right to forgive because you were offended. It is the same with God. As sinners we have ‘offended’ God and only he can reconcile us, not some other created being. God demonstrated how much he loves you by His death on the cross. It was there that Jesus as very God of God paid for your sins and mine. What amazing love! Since He demonstrated His love for us, how can we do any less? Are you willing to suffer if need be to love as God loves you? Prayer: Father, how amazing You are that You would so wonderfully and completely demonstrate Your love! Help me to love as You love. “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 John 3:16)