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Romans 5:8 - Unfathomable Love.Romans 5:8 (NLT) But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.INTRODUCTION While we were still sinners - these are amazing words. God sent Jesus Christ to die for us, not because we were good enough, but just because he loved us. Whenever you feel uncertain about God's love for you, remember that he loved you even before you turned to him. [Life Application SB] COMMENTARY PEARL Helping the Tempted Not because we first loved Him did Christ love us; but "while we were yet sinners" He died for us. He does not treat us according to our desert. Although our sins have merited condemnation, He does not condemn us. Year after year He has borne with our weakness and ignorance, with our ingratitude and waywardness. Notwithstanding our wanderings, our hardness of heart, our neglect of His Holy Word, His hand is stretched out still. Grace is an attribute of God exercised toward undeserving human beings. We did not seek for it, but it was sent in search of us. God rejoices to bestow His grace upon us, not because we are worthy, but because we are so utterly unworthy. Our only claim to His mercy is our great need. The Lord God through Jesus Christ holds out His hand all the day long in invitation to the sinful and fallen. He will receive all. He welcomes all. It is His glory to pardon the chief of sinners. He will take the prey from the mighty, He will deliver the captive, He will pluck the brand from the burning. He will lower the golden chain of His mercy to the lowest depths of human wretchedness, and lift up the debased soul contaminated with sin. Every human being is the object of loving interest to Him who gave His life that He might bring men back to God. Souls guilty and helpless, liable to be destroyed by the arts and snares of Satan, are cared for as a shepherd cares for the sheep of his flock. The Saviour's example is to be the standard of our service for the tempted and the erring. The same interest and tenderness and long-suffering that He has manifested toward us, we are to manifest toward others. "As I have loved you," He says, "that ye also love one another." John 13:34. If Christ dwells in us, we shall reveal His unselfish love toward all with whom we have to do. As we see men and women in need of sympathy and help, we shall not ask, "Are they worthy?" but "How can I benefit them?" Rich and poor, high and low, free and bond, are God's heritage. He who gave His life to redeem man sees in every human being a value that exceeds finite computation. By the mystery and glory of the cross we are to discern His estimate of the value of the soul. When we do this, we shall feel that human beings, however degraded, have cost too much to be treated with coldness or contempt. We shall realize the importance of working for our fellow men, that they may be exalted to the throne of God. The lost coin, in the Saviour's parable, though lying in the dirt and rubbish, was a piece of silver still. Its owner sought it because it was of value. So every soul, however degraded by sin, is in God's sight accounted precious. As the coin bore the image and superscription of the reigning power, so man at his creation bore the image and superscription of God. Though now marred and dim through the influence of sin, the traces of this inscription remain upon every soul. God desires to recover that soul and to retrace upon it His own image in righteousness and holiness. How little do we enter into sympathy with Christ on that which should be the strongest bond of union between us and Him--compassion for depraved, guilty, suffering souls, dead in trespasses and sins! The inhumanity of man toward man is our greatest sin. Many think that they are representing the justice of God while they wholly fail of representing His tenderness and His great love. Often the ones whom they meet with sternness and severity are under the stress of temptation. Satan is wrestling with these souls, and harsh, unsympathetic words discourage them and cause them to fall a prey to the tempter's power. It is a delicate matter to deal with minds. Only He who reads the heart knows how to bring men to repentance. Only His wisdom can give us success in reaching the lost. You may stand up stiffly, feeling, "I am holier than thou," and it matters not how correct your reasoning or how true your words; they will never touch hearts. The love of Christ, manifested in word and act, will win its way to the soul, when the reiteration of precept or argument would accomplish nothing. We need more of Christlike sympathy; not merely sympathy for those who appear to us to be faultless, but sympathy for poor, suffering, struggling souls, who are often overtaken in fault, sinning and repenting, tempted and discouraged. We are to go to our fellow men, touched, like our merciful High Priest, with the feeling of their infirmities. It was the outcast, the publican and sinner, the despised of the nations, that Christ called and by His loving-kindness compelled to come unto Him. The one class that He would never countenance was those who stood apart in their self-esteem and looked down upon others. MH161-164 COMMENTARY Proof of God's Love I've noticed that people like to think of their animals as human. They'll put clothes on their dogs, for example, but dogs don't like clothes. Years ago, I bought a Harley-Davidson hat for my dog, which I thought was funny. But he hated it. And he couldn't wait to get it off. We can put clothes on dogs, but it won't turn them into humans. A dog is still a dog. In the same way, we might try to change our environment or the way we look, but it won't change who we are. We'll still be the same on the inside. When a Pharisee named Nicodemus came to Jesus with some questions, Jesus told him, "Don't be surprised when I say, 'You must be born again' " (John 3:7 NLT). To help Nicodemus understand, Jesus went on to say, "The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit" (verse 8 NLT). Jesus was saying, "It is just like the wind. You don't see the wind coming or where it is going, but you see its effects. You can tell when it is going to rain. Look at the dark clouds. You can see the rain. But you can't see the wind. You can only see the effects of it." In the same way, we can't see God. But to say there is no God because we can't see Him is like saying we don't believe in electricity because we can't see it. Although we can't see God, we can see His effect. We can see the impact He has made in people's lives. Jesus got more specific in His conversation with Nicodemus and laid out the essential gospel message. He also gave us a verse that every Christian should commit to memory: "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" (John 3:16 NLT). This refutes the concept of God as a cosmic killjoy or an angry judge who is ready to destroy humanity. Rather, Jesus began by saying, "For this is how God loved the world." God loves everyone, despite what they've done. And He showed His love to us in a tangible way. The apostle Paul wrote, "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners" (Romans 5:8 NLT). But let's also notice the other part of John 3:16: "So that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life" (NLT). What does it mean to believe? It doesn't mean to intellectually accept something. Sometimes we think that believing something means acknowledging it is true. However, that is not believing in the biblical sense. The word "believe" means to put your complete faith in something. God is saying, "Trust Me with your life." That is what it means to believe. [Greg Laurie from Harvest Ministries; https://www.harvestdaily.com] Loneliness Is Longing for Relationship with God What you often call loneliness is really homesickness for God. This is because you were made to have a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, a relationship that God is dying to have with you. In fact, his Son did die so you could have it. The Bible says, "God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners" (Romans 5:8 NLT). Nothing is ever going to compensate for a close personal connection to God--no person, no experience, no drug, no success, no thing, no possession. Nothing is going to fill that aching hole in your heart that God created for himself. He wants you to know him. How do you get to know God? Open your life to Jesus Christ. Say, "Jesus Christ, I want to get to know you. I want to learn to love you the way you love me. You loved me even before I knew anything about you, even while I was still in rebellion against you." You were made for a relationship with God. Christianity is not a religion of fear, rules, regulations, and rituals; it's a relationship where you talk to God all the time and he works in and through you. That is the antidote to your deepest loneliness. Join a church family. After God created Adam, he said, "It is not good for the man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18 NIV). God created you to live in community with others. Find a spot where you can get involved. Join a small group where other people get to know you and where you find the support network you need when you're going through those tough times. Take a chance. Take a risk. Join a small group. Another way to overcome loneliness is to start serving. Every day we encounter a world full of lonely people who are wondering if anyone cares. That elderly person who hasn't had a visit in two years. That teenager who is confused and wonders, "What am I going to do with my life?" That single adult who goes home every night to a lonely apartment. That widow who just buried her husband. That employee who heads for the bar every night after work because there's nothing else to do. The world is full of people waiting to be loved. Stop saying, "I don't have any friends!" and start saying, "God, who can you use me to minister to? What person can I show your love to?" If all you do is commit yourself to being a friend to lonely people, you'll live a significant life. That would be a valid, worthy life goal. You will go through lonely times in your life, but you'll never go through them alone if you have a close relationship with Jesus Christ. [Daily Devotional by Rick Warren: https://pastorrick.com/devotional/] LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY Romans 5:8 - Unfathomable Love. https://www.abible.com/devotions/2024/20240422-0821.html https://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20231211-0756.html https://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20230717-0942.html Romans 5:8 - The Amazing Unconditional Love of God for Relationship. http://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20230311-0900.html http://www.abible.com/devotions/2021/20210823-0933.html http://www.abible.com/devotions/2019/20190221-1123.html John 3:16 - Love Languages. http://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20230217-0920.html 1 Corinthians 13 - Love Is Like That. http://www.abible.com/devotions/2019/20190611-0928.html Romans 8:38, 39 - Omnipotent Love. http://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20230319-0946.html Jeremiah 31:3 - Gods Love is Everlasting. http://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20230116-0908.html LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT https://abible.com/links/ |