God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?” (Matthew 5:43-46). Love when put into action, changes everything, even the whole world! Our love, when expressed in the light of scripture, is a continuation of what God started when He sent His Son to save us!
The Scripture says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). In this scripture, we see the outworking of God’s love through Jesus, rescuing perishing humanity through His sacrificial death on the Cross! Love is God’s antidote that rescues perishing things and people by saving, healing, and delivering. No situation is hopeless when love is introduced into it. This is why the Lord commands His disciples to love even enemies! It seems so difficult to love enemies, those who hate us, those who wish our destruction, but our Heavenly Father instructs us by command and example to do so.
Jesus and the Father are the model and strength of what is expected of us. On the Cross, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us […] For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation” (Romans 5:8,10-11).
Rejoicing in God with you,
Pastor Don