Saturday, June 24, 2017
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.
O HOW HIGH THE IMMEASURABLE LOVE OF GOD!
How high is God's love in Christ? It reaches to the height of heaven even while it is rooted here in time.
Consider what the Lord, speaking through Isaiah the prophet (55:6-9), says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. God's pardoning love is far above any forgiveness we humans can conceive of. It not only begins in the heart of the holy God, it reaches down to us personally to bring us sinners forgiven into His eternal presence.
First, the eternal Son of God comes down to us from heaven to purchase forgiveness for with his own lifeblood, and then: the Spirit of God speaks to us in the great good news of Christ's redemption, speaks to our hearts in such a way (God's way!) that with newborn hearts we hold fast to what our Savior has done for us. In the third chapter of John it is of this rebirth through the Gospel that Jesus speaks to Nicodemus when He says, “You must be born again!”
The new life that is God's rule in the human heart is marked by confidence in God, that is, by faith. This new life even death can't destroy. This new life in Christ reaches to the heights of heaven for Jesus' life-giving forgiveness brings us into the presence of God for ever.
The one true God, the Triune God,
Is the Father who planned our salvation in eternity;
Is the Son who carried out this plan in time;
Is the Holy Spirit who brings us to trust in Jesus our Savior.
