Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Rebel and Repent

How much does God love us?

I believe the depth of God’s love for us inestimable.

Many answer that question by saying God loved us enough to send His Son to die for us. And that is a theologically correct and biblically sound answer. But do we really understand the full extent of His love in the death of His Son? I do not think we do.

I have often heard more than a few preachers say God loves us so much that if you or I were the only person alive on the earth, He would have still sent His Son to die for you or me.

So, I ask, once again, how much does God love us?

I have two answers to that question that may surprise.

First, I think we can measure God’s love for us by the degree in which He allows us to REBEL against Him. God made man, and then God gave man the freedom to rebel. And have we ever rebelled?

I think God limiting Himself shows how much He loves us. God gives every man the choice to live the way he chooses to live. Every human has the choice and the freedom to sin against the Holy God. That is love—God limiting Himself by allowing us to sin against Him.

Another way we can measure God’s love for us is by the way He allows us to REPENT before Him.

I am not one to go public with the confession of my sin. And, I do not plan to change that part of me in this blog. Even though I will not confess my sin to you, I can attest to this—God forgiving me of my sin against Him when I repent is an amazing display of His love. I know what I have done to sin against God. I know the depths of my rebellion, and for God to forgive me when I repent is an awe-inspiring display of His love.

Perhaps another way to describe God’s love through the theme of REBEL & REPENT is to know this—no matter the degree to which we have sinned against God, if we confess our sin and repent, God will not hold that sin against us. Actually, God loves us so much He releases us from the penalty of sin and pronounces us innocent before Him through Jesus Christ. Now that is love, scandalous love.

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