Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!
Let's try to comprehend this. We know that Jesus loved us enough to die for us. Romans 5:6-8 testifies of it-
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
What this means is that not only were we not motivated to love God but we were impotent towards Him and yet Christ died for us. Even though one of us might muster up the courage to be noble enough to sacrifice our life for someone we really thought it would be worth it for, would we ever consider doing that for a regular guy that was just a face in the crowd? Or take it a step further, would you die for someone who was an enemy of the state? Jesus' death for us while we were yet sinners can be compared to us being asked to throw away our life for a world-wide terrorist. Perhaps you didn't realize His love was that strong. You see, the Bible says that "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags". It doesn't say our sins are as filthy rags. It says that the best we can ever do- our goodness is trash to God. And in the face of that Jesus lays down his life because down through the ages he heard your cries. But now let's turn back to the original opening statement(Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us). Here is the extent of God's love... The sacrifice on the cross is greater than me giving up my life for you or somebody I don't like. It is like me being willing to let a terrorist break into my house & take away my son and let my child's torturing be broadcast for the whole world to see. I would never let that happen! But God did. Yet it doesn't stop there- He forgives the terrorist of everything and invites him to come live with Him forever!
God was willing to go to the extreme for all who will turn to Him, and even for those who don't turn to Him, He still wanted to offer Himself to them. You say you feel like you've been broken in pieces because of the awful circumstances of your life? God has felt that same pain & more...
Isaiah 52:14 says [For many the Servant of God became an object of horror; many were astonished at Him.] His face and His whole appearance were marred more than any man's, and His form beyond that of the sons of men--but just as many were astonished at Him. He allows Himself to be battered & broken for you... 1 Corinthians 11:23-24:"the Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread;
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me'..." It is significant that he allows himself to be broken knowing He is going to be betrayed! But it was not just something that happened in the past. God says,"Do you know how many times I have been broken? Every time a confused hurting soul unexpectedly loses someone precious to them and they cry out "Why, God?", I am broken again. I have been broken through all the tragedies of the ages. I am also broken because I have lost many who would not hear me, and they are in hell now, And I will always feel hurt over them. Do not think that because I am God, I am above all that. It is because I am Love that I can never escape that hurt & brokenness."
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God! That love is willing to go out of it's way to take the bad, and to live with the ENDURING consequences, so you can have the good.
