Thursday, June 11, 2015
2 Corinthians 13:11-14 Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
BLESSING YOU WITH THE LOVE OF GOD
While the Son and the Holy Spirit are involved in our creation and our preservation, we are told in Scripture that it is especially the work of God the Father to provide for all people everything that they need for their daily lives. This He does in spite of the fact that every one of us, believers and unbelievers, has sinned against Him, and continues to daily sin against Him. Yet Christ tells us to, "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Mt 6:26).
Christ also tells us that, "[God] makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45), so that it is written, "[God] did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness" (Acts 14:17).
Still, some might wonder at this, given the troubles that we see in this world. They might point to the natural disasters, to the famines and starvation, to the wars and the unrest that there is in this sinful world. To which Scripture answers, "How unsearchable are [God's] judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?" (Romans 11:33f).
And the LORD could leave it at that. After all, He is the LORD over all things, who promises that, no matter how things may appear to us, "All things work together for good to those who love God, who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). He could leave it at that. He could say, "You sinners should be happy that I feed you and clothe you!" But He doesn't. Rather, He proved beyond a doubt His love for all people, believers and unbelievers, by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die to pay for the sins of all people, for it is written, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them ..." (1 Corinthians 5:19). This is the ultimate definition of grace (undeserved love).
We might help other people in time of need. In time of war we might even allow our children to put their lives in danger to defend others, but still, we hope that we'll see them return home safe and sound. As Scripture says, " ... scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:7f).
The apostle tells us in our text to, "Be of good comfort!" What comforts the heart more than knowing that God the Father not only tells us that He loves us, but He demonstrates His love toward us!
