The Face Of Love
What does love look like? Will you recognize it if you see it? 1 John 3:16 (New King James Version) says, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” But it’s the practical examples that drive the point home: If we don’t take care of those in need, love is not in us.
We will probably never be called to lay down our lives for anyone but just how does that work in practical terms? What Jesus did when He died for you and for me was the payment for judgement. At the fall, God sentenced man to die, justifiably. And we would have remained dead except that God now took it upon Himself to pay the penalty. Observe that He did not release us from the sentence. He paid it by Himself, through His dear Son, Jesus Christ.
The other day, I saw a clear demonstration of this in a human family. The father needed his son to come with him, but he couldn’t. Like all of us who were dead in sin, the young boy was stuporous with deep sleep. He could not help himself, even as the father required him to wake up and strap on his shoes. Similarly, we were unable to save ourselves from sin.
But that father did what God did. He called the young man to himself, picked up his shoes, sat him om his laps and helped to strap on his shoes. The young man was only required to come to his father in trust. It was such a beautiful portrayal of the love of God. God paid it all by Himself, just like that dad did all the work by himself, with the son sitting comfortably in his father’s laps. On that day, I saw the face of God in that dad’s face and it got me thinking.
How many of us even understand that kind of love, where we ourselves perform the requirements of the law on behalf of someone else? Do I? Do you? Whatever our experience of love, we should be grateful for the love of God that punishes sin but loves the sinner enough to actually pay the penalty Himself. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, John 3:16.
I pray that as we gain a clear understanding of this indescribable love, we shall come and simply sit on God’s laps in trust.
Maranatha!
We will probably never be called to lay down our lives for anyone but just how does that work in practical terms? What Jesus did when He died for you and for me was the payment for judgement. At the fall, God sentenced man to die, justifiably. And we would have remained dead except that God now took it upon Himself to pay the penalty. Observe that He did not release us from the sentence. He paid it by Himself, through His dear Son, Jesus Christ.
The other day, I saw a clear demonstration of this in a human family. The father needed his son to come with him, but he couldn’t. Like all of us who were dead in sin, the young boy was stuporous with deep sleep. He could not help himself, even as the father required him to wake up and strap on his shoes. Similarly, we were unable to save ourselves from sin.
But that father did what God did. He called the young man to himself, picked up his shoes, sat him om his laps and helped to strap on his shoes. The young man was only required to come to his father in trust. It was such a beautiful portrayal of the love of God. God paid it all by Himself, just like that dad did all the work by himself, with the son sitting comfortably in his father’s laps. On that day, I saw the face of God in that dad’s face and it got me thinking.
How many of us even understand that kind of love, where we ourselves perform the requirements of the law on behalf of someone else? Do I? Do you? Whatever our experience of love, we should be grateful for the love of God that punishes sin but loves the sinner enough to actually pay the penalty Himself. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, John 3:16.
I pray that as we gain a clear understanding of this indescribable love, we shall come and simply sit on God’s laps in trust.
Maranatha!