How Perfect is God's Love?

For a long time, I had too small and understanding of God's love for me.

I thought of God's love as a feeling, a sense of warmth, but that kind of love means nothing at all.

The Bible does not describe God's love as some warm feeling at all. God's love is demonstrated at the Cross.

Yet even when people see what Jesus went through for us at the Cross, still many believers gasp in horror when they see Jesus beaten, whipped, dragging a heavy Cross, to die a shameful, torturous death hanging between two thieves.

Too many people focus on what He endured. Not enough people explore and enjoy why he went through all of those terrible traumas for us.

Isaiah prophesied in full why the Messiah came to die for us:

"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53: 4-6)

Paul then explains what happened at the Cross:

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5: 21)

He took all of our sin, the "iniquity of us all" was laid on Jesus. He is the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world (John 1: 29), the mercy seat for all of our sins (1 John 4: 10)

Paul also shared the Gospel in two verses when he was first preaching the Good News:

"Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:

"And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." (Acts 13: 38-39)

Forgiveness of sins -- all of them. Forgiveness of sins -- your sins paid for. No in confessions, not in works of penance, but in the Work that Christ accomplished at the Cross (John 19: 30)

We are called to believe on Him (John 6: 29), that He was sent to us free from our very selves, a sin nature which we cannot undo or be rid of through our own efforts. We cannot justify ourselves through the law of Moses. We need someone to impart this justification to us, a gift which God gives us freely through His Son.

This grace abounds in our lives evermore (Romans 3: 20), even when we do sin, even when other sin against us (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10).

The grace and righteousness of God are the gifts that God keeps giving, the gifts which He wants us to keep receiving (Romans 5: 17)

These gifts are made available to us through the death of His Son, and He now sits at the right hand of the Father, justifying us to this day.

This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, dying for all our sins, once for all, and that His eternal blood speaks better things, blood that will declare forever that we made the righteousness of God in Christ, if we only believe!

This love is perfect in transforming us from dead and alienated from God in our trespasses to alive and reigning in life through Christ Jesus.

This love is a lavish love, one which not only takes away our sin, but also takes away the penalty and the record, as well. By making sinners righteousness, God is faithful and just. In a sense, He cannot help but bless us because His Son paid for us to receive this grace in our lives. It would be unjust for God not to forgive our sins.

Indeed, behold what manner of love that God has given us, in that we are called sons of God (1 John 1: 12; 1 John 3: 1). It is not enough to know that He died for you. It is not enough to know that He died for all your sins. It is not enough to know that His stripes give you healing. You must receive that at the Cross, God gave fallen man a way to be made not just righteous, but to receive, to be wrapped up, to be made the righteousness of God in Christ. It is not enough to know that you have been made the righteousness of God in Christ, but that His Holy Spirit now lives in you, convicts you of God's righteousness, that Jesus now lives in every believer, and that now we can rest from our works for righteousness and keep receiving His gifts of righteousness!

How perfect is God's love? How perfect is God's love, indeed!