Romans 5:8 - The Amazing Unconditional Love of God.
Romans 5:8: The Amazing Unconditional Love of God.
Romans 5:8 (NIV) But God demonstrates his own love for us in
this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 (NLT) But God showed his great love for us by sending
Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
COMMENTARY PEARLS
Scripture tells us that love is the very essence of who God
is (1 John 4:7). So if you don't believe that He loves you
unconditionally, you'll never really know Him or have genuine peace about your
relationship with Him.
How do you define "love"? It is Jesus unselfishly reaching
out to mankind, giving Himself to us and bringing good into our life
regardless of whether or not we accept Him. Romans 5:8 tells us that His
care and concern are so immeasurable that He laid down His life for
us while we were still His enemies. In fact, the Bible says that He
first began to express His love toward us before the foundation of the
world (Eph. 1:3-5). That means your actions had absolutely nothing to
do with His love for you!
God's commitment to us has absolutely no conditions or
restrictions and isn't based on whether we love Him back. Nor does He have
more love for "good" people who may strike us as more worthy. He
loves us even in our sin, even when we don't repent. Does that give us
license to disobey? No. It gives us power to live holy lives, walk
obediently with Him, and learn to love Him the way He deserves. To follow
Him is to receive the love He has been offering all along.
Every single moment, whether awake or asleep, we all live
under the canopy of the Lord's wondrous, absolute love for us. But to
fully experience that love, you must receive it. Say yes to this
amazing gift that God wants to pour out on you. Bask in it, and let it
overflow to those around you. [In Touch Daily Devotional by Charles
Stanley at www.intouch.org]
God reminded me today of His unconditional love!
It is very important to begin each day knowing that you are
loved! God loves you unconditionally, and His love is more valuable and
important than anyone else's. He doesn't love us because we deserve it,
but simply because He wants to.
As you receive God's love freely, it will give you confidence
and enable you to live life without fear. God's perfect love casts
out all fear and dread (see 1 John 4:18).
Perhaps you have known the pain of not being chosen. You were
not picked for class president or asked to attend the party that
everyone was going to. When we are left out it hurts, but the good news
for you today is that God has chosen you! You are special to Him and
His love for you will never end.
Thank You, Father, for loving me. I receive Your love by
faith today and ask that it will strengthen me. [My Time with God by
Joyce Meyer]
COMMENTARY
While we were still sinners - these are amazing words. God
sent Jesus Christ to die for us, not because we were good enough, but
because he loved us.
We were sinners, doomed to death, "utterly helpless." Instead
of punishing us with the death we deserve, however, Christ took our
sins upon himself and took our punishment by dying on the cross. Now
we can "rejoice in God." Through faith in Christ's work, we have
been reconciled to God rather than being enemies and outcasts. We
have been saved from God's judgment. We will be delivered from
eternal punishment by his life. We can rejoice in our wonderful new
relationship with God. We are friends with God.
The love that caused Christ to die is the same love that
sends the Holy Spirit to live in you and guide you every day. The
power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power that saved
you and is available to you in your daily life. You can be assured
that, having begun a life with Christ, you have a reserve of power and
love to call on each day to help you meet every challenge and trial.
[The One Year Bible for New Believers re Rom.5:8-11]
The unmistakable sense of Gods love that floods our hearts
even in suffering is a very personal, subjective kind of thing. We
know we are loved. We can tell others. But how can they know that
Gods love is real? Paul answered that there is objective as well as
subjective evidence of the love of God. Christs cross towers in history,
casting its shadow in every century, vivid and unmistakable proof that
God does love us indeed! While an unusual person might give his life
to save a truly good man, Jesus Christ gave His life to save us
despite the fact that we were sinners. There may be times when you and I
cant feel the love of God. But there need never be a time when we
doubt it. We need only look to Calvary, and remember why Jesus died.
[The 365-Day Devotional Commentary]
ILLUSTRATIONS
Your failures dont surprise God. He expects them. He knows
what were made of - because he created us.
The Bible says, [God] knows what we are made of; he
remembers that we are dust (Psalm 103:14 GNT).
God wont stop loving you when you mess up. The central
message of the Bible is this: God doesnt love you because of who you
are or what youve done but because of who he is and what he has
done. God made you. He loves you. Its settled. You cant make God
love you more. You cant make God love you less. He loves you just
as much on your bad days as he does on your good days. His love is
not performance-based.
The Bible has a word for this: grace. And its absolutely
amazing. God looks at you and says, I choose to love you. And you
cant make me stop loving you. Even when were ridiculously bad,
God wont stop loving us. It truly is amazing grace. When you
realize his grace, you can relax about your failures - and have the
confidence to take more risks.
You may have gone to God multiple times for forgiveness on
the same issue. Maybe youre not sure you deserve his love and
grace. (You can settle that now. You dont.) And youre convinced
that God has grown tired of your constant efforts at change. (He
hasnt.)
God never tires of a conversation with you. Hes never too
busy. No matter how many times you go to him for forgiveness, hell
be waiting with open arms.
You may have grown up in a home where conditional love was
the norm. Your parents affections may have been based on your
academic, athletic, or social successes. When you failed in one of those
areas, you felt the loss of your familys love.
You can relax. Thats not how God deals with you.
The Bible says, [God] canceled the debt, which listed all
the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its
rules and nailed it to the cross (Colossians 2:14 NCV).
The Christian life isnt a mistake-free life, but it can be
a guilt-free life. God understands your failures - and he loves
you anyway.
Thats Gods amazing grace! [Daily Devotional by Rick
Warren: https://pastorrick.com/devotional/ re Psalm 103:14]
I met Larry Willard in August 2003, when we were teaching in
the same classroom. Prior to that, we had worked in the same school
for three years and had passed each other in the hallway, but we had
never really spoken. That October, Larry was diagnosed with terminal
brain cancer. By July 2004 he would be with the Lord.
In the few short months I knew him, both before and after the
diagnosis, Larry helped me understand the beauty and glory of the
destination waiting for those who know Jesus. Larry told me about a work of
art different from any other"like the brilliant colors painted on
butterfly wings, but one whose vibrant hues never fade and whose picture
never changes. It was a work so real and beyond comprehension that no
museum could contain its dimensions, no bank could calculate its worth.
The splendor-soaked masterpiece is called salvation and the artist
is God.
The doctors had told Larry that one in every one hundred
people have a tumor like his. "Matt, God is gracious!" he said, looking
past my eyes and into my heart. "If I'm that lucky one, that means
ninety-nine other sweet souls still have time to begin and grow a
relationship with the Lord?'
I was one of those ninety-nine lost souls. Larry's life was a
small piece of God, whispering my name, reminding me that he loves me
just as I am. Three months before Larry's death, I surrendered my
life to the Lord and was able to tell Larry the good news. He said it
was the best gift I could ever have given him! Thank you, Larry, for
helping me see the vision of God's grace-filled love.
Matthew Koceich, a schoolteacher who also constructs
crossword puzzles for USA Today, lives in Texas with his wife, Cindi, and
their three children. [The One Year Bible Live Verse Devotional]
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Can anything make me stop loving you?" God asks, "Watch me
speak your language, sleep on your earth, and feel your hurts. Behold
the maker of sight and sound as he sneezes, coughs, and blows his
nose. You wonder if I understand how you feel? Look into the dancing
eyes of the kid in Nazareth; that's God walking to school. Ponder the
toddler at Mary's table; that's God spilling his milk.
"You wonder how long my love will last? Find your answer on a
splintered cross, on a craggy hill. That's me you see up there, your maker,
your God, nail-stabbed and bleeding. Covered in spit and sin-soaked.
That's your sin I'm feeling. That's your death I'm dying.
That's your resurrection I'm living. That's how much I love you."
[Grace For The Moment SB By Max Lucado]
This passage reminds us that our reason to rejoice is not
only that our future salvation is assured, that we've been delivered
from eternal punishment, or that Christ died for us while we were
still his enemies. Certainly that would be reason enough! But we also
rejoice because in the present, right here on earth in the midst of
where we are"today, tomorrow, and all the days we are alive "we
can enjoy a wonderful new relationship with our heavenly Father.
This is not a distant relationship but a close, intimate one. We are
blessed with this intimacy because the finished work of Christ removed
every barrier standing between the Lord and us and restored our
relationship so that we could be friends of God. We did nothing to accomplish
this; we receive it because of what Christ did. Think of it"friends
of the Almighty! If nothing else is going well today, we still have
great reason to rejoice.
I rejoice in my relationship with you, Father"all because
of what Jesus Christ has done for me. Having an intimate
relationship with Jesus, the friend of sinners, allows me to have an eternal
perspective about everything else that happens to me today. I praise you for
the joy such a friendship brings. [Praying Through The Bible By
Fuller]
The love that caused Christ to die is the same love that sends
the Holy Spirit to live in us and guide us every day. The power that
raised Christ from the dead is the same power that saved you and is
available to you in your daily life. Be assured that, having begun a life
with Christ, you have a reserve of power and love to call on each day
for help to meet every challenge or trial. You can pray for God's
power and love as you need it. [Life Application SB re vs. 10]
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
A Man without Equal by Bill Bright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo [old, but one of the best]
Importance of Choice:
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]
Seeking God Made Real: http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
Musical Devotional On Christian Living:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcotY5K7T0c
Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David DeRose, MD, MPH:
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies: http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Amazing Facts Bible Studies:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx
Discover Bible Studies: http://studies.itiswritten.com/discover/
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies: http://www.bibleresearch.info/
ABible.com: http://www.aBible.com
LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS
The Last Day of Prophecy by Pastor Doug Batchelor:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmGvdtMCf1aJTiC59-lPtuUMEq_uEn0BK
Restoring The Power by John Bradshaw:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRogO1SxoZN15Boa7BMon4BouVMdteVaq
Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
Last Day Prophecy: His Other Sheep by Pastor Gerald Babanezhad:
https://vimeo.com/162267518
