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CHRISTIAN LIVING TODAY
Guest Column
God loved us first — have you missed that in scripture?
John 3:16 is a verse many people memorize, and it includes “…for God so loves the world… that He gave…” Micah, in the Old Testament speaks of God’s love too, that it does not change — it is fixed and cannot be altered. Verse 7:18b declares that God delights in the fact of His love.
Romans 8:35-39 says that nothing can separate us from His love, and 5:8 tells us God went to great measure for us to understand His love.
Read these verses to see the list of Paul’s adversities and then make your own list. You can’t be good enough to earn it, or bad enough to forfeit it.
The word “demonstrate” is interesting here. It means to explain or show something, or the validity of something — to prove clearly and convincingly.
Review the details of this verse with me.
God explained His love to make the meaning clear.
God showed His love to allow it to be easily seen.
God displayed His love and made it available to see.
God proved His love clearly and convincingly by having Jesus die on the cross.
He did this while we were still sinners — separated from Him, before we even knew Him, before we ever cared or had any clue about Him.
So yes, Jesus’ sacrifice and death makes us acceptable to a Holy God, but He is also the demonstration of God’s love towards you, and me.
As I grew in the realization of God’s love, I began noticing changes in my thinking and attitudes.
God’s love gave me stability I’d never really known. It provided a feeling of security. Scriptures that said He would never abandon or forsake us really gained meaning.
I’ll share one humorous thought I had.
Being a longtime resident of Houston, the Astrodome was a major location — and having toured it years ago, I had some concept of its size. My knowing God’s love was such a life-changing realization that I concluded most people who claim to be Christians should be locked inside the Astrodome, only released when they too understood this profound truth. For, looking around, it seemed to me that people would be more kind, loving, forgiving and much less judgmental if this were true in their lives too.
I hope this speaks to you. I hope if you have private doubts deep within, that you will open your heart and mind to this truth.
Until next week, Anita
Onarecker, a writer, author and minister to women and adults, earned a Master of Christian Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2007.
