2006-01-05 - No Matter What Happens

Matt 28:20b and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. " (NASB)

There is a song from an album done by a group named Glad (The A Cappella Project, 1988) called And This is Love that starts:

And this is love, not that I have first loved you...

This deeply underscores for us the idea that, while we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ came and died a horrible death in our place to save us from eternal separation from God. His death broke the power of sin and his resurrection broke the power of death over humanity for all who will come and humbly ask for forgiveness and submit to His Lordship.

We did nothing to merit His favor. We walked away from God in the Garden. We murdered the messengers He sent to call us back to Himself. We did whatever we saw fit to do in our own eyes. He came anyway. No matter what we did or said, He continued to love His rebellious, broken creation that struggles and chafes against Him to this day.

And this is love - that He refuses to stop telling us He loves us, and never stops being patient with us. No matter what we do or we say, He stands ready to forgive the humble heart. This is not such an alien concept for us. A parent will continue to love and want to protect their child no matter how far astray they go. The heart of that parent may be broken by the actions of the child, but many will stand with them until the end even while understanding the guilt of their offspring.

Peter denied knowing Jesus three times, the last time with cursing. A rooster crowed, as Jesus had told him it would after the third denial, and Peter ran into the darkness sobbing. Jesus restored Peter making it perfectly clear in the process that His love for Peter was unconditional.

This is not a license to sin. It is a reminder of our hideous debt that was paid by the blood of Christ. It is a reflection of our gratitude to a Savior Who came when we were on open rebellion against Him. It is a reminder to us of the impenetrable depth of love that walked to Calvary in our place, to pay the debt we could never pay. Selah.

Rom 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NASB)

Grace & Peace,
Mike

mhoskins@cfdevotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org