Jesus redefines the meaning of love for neighbor; it means love for any man in need.
~George Eldon Ladd (1911-1982)
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
~ Romans 5:6-8
As we pour through the Scriptures. And as they begin to actually pour into us by the power of His Spirit, something begins to become clear.
G_d died for us.
G_d died for us voluntarily because He Loves us.
Stop for a second beloved. Just wait on Him for a moment…
Life Himself took on death.
Purity became shame.
Majesty put Himself aside.
Fullness became empty.
The King became a slave.
Light was plunged into darkness.
Infinite power submitted to death.
This is not just some beautiful heroic death. This is an astounding truth. The avalanche of this Grace and truth only builds if we stop and meditate on what happened at the cross. Every wrong ever committed, being committed, and to be committed was violently cast on the only One who never had anything to do with that wrong. Please. If you have never considered this truth, just stop for a moment and ask G_d to help you begin to get a feel for what is going on here.
i am horrible. And Jesus took the full blow that i deserve simply because He Loves me. He literally made eternity different for me through His work on the cross. Yield, dear friends, to this truth. Bow in worship to the One who did this for us.
But it gets better.
The Love that motivated this action, is a Love that works independently of our response to it. Said simply: Jesus died for us because He Loves us. Period.
Are we catching this? Jesus did not die because you would accept His Love. Jesus would have died for you if you were the only one on the planet. But, more importantly, Jesus would have died for you (for all of us) even if none of us ever accepted the gift.
What?
Yeah.
This is an infinite avalanche of Love. This Love trumps anything, anyone, any event ever.
Every single person who has ever lived, who lives now, or who will live could have or could abjectly reject the gift – and He would have done it anyway.
Who is this glorious Lover of our souls? Will we ever fully understand? Could we even handle the truth if we knew it?
Oh my.
