“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5.8
Friends when we were undeserving, not even apologetic or seeking forgiveness, Christ died for us. That’s amazing to me considering how I work out forgiveness in my own heart.
This forgiveness is an incredible grace. It’s not condemning or shame-filled. It’s also not flimsy and changing like the fleeting grace of the world.
It’s firm, an anchor for our souls. It has weight to it, because by its very existence, grace implies that we need saving. It also carries weight because it reminds us that Jesus died so we could be saved. It points us to the truth about who we are before a holy God. And it flows from love that He has for us not because of anything we’ve done but because He made us.
We often think we have to choose between being loving or truthful and that the two don’t go together. But God’s love is wholly truthful and His truth is perfectly loving. We tend towards one side or the other because we’re unable to reconcile them in our minds. We've never seen it done before.
But we have - Jesus did it perfectly. It’s this kindness of Jesus that leads us to repentance, to turn from the things we seek that we weren’t made for, things we trust for joy and contentment more than our Maker.
In a world that tells us we are not enough or that we are (cuz we hear both messages), our Savior says that we are not enough but He is. The good news is that He didn’t say this and then leave us hopeless. While we were still sinners, He died to take the punishment for what we did. He died so we could live.
He didn’t condemn us nor did He cancel us.
He called us out of our sin into saving grace that transforms lives & changes hearts.
In my most humbling moments and God’s ever grace-filled ones, this can literally bring me to tears. That I would constantly wander back to and love things that leave me empty more than the One who gave me life and gave His life for mine. That even then He would rescue me. It was my sin and desperate need for grace that held Him to the cross. How deep the Father’s love.
If you've never heard about God's grace, I'd love to share about it with you. I'm constantly learning more about it and it continues to change me every day.
