Tuesday, March 14, 2017
1 John 3:16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.
LENT: CONTRASTING MAN'S HATRED WITH GOD'S LOVE
God says that man is "dead in trespasses and sins," and "by nature children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:1, 4). In Romans 8:7 we read that "the carnal mind is enmity [has hatred] against God." Being fleshly minded, seeking his own gratification, the natural man hates God and works against the Lord. As one who hates God, the unconverted man is on the side of the devil, serving Satan, rather than God.
At times the world may be heard to wonder, "How could a God of love condemn anyone to hell?" Actually, it was man who condemned himself to hell by disobeying God. Man knew the consequences of his actions in the garden, for the LORD had said, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:17). In spite of man's rebellion and hatred, God promised and sent mankind a Savior from sin.
During Lent we sorrow over the sins that made it necessary for Christ to go to the cross to suffer our punishment. Jesus Christ DIED on account of our sins. However, we do not focus only on our sins. The main focus of Lent is the love of God shown to sinners in Christ's sacrifice on Calvary. Thank God that He is not as sinful men, loving only those who love Him back. The natural man hated God, and yet God loved man so much that God paid for man's sin with the life of His only Son.
Let this ever be our light, not only in the solemn season of Lent, but as we walk through this sinful world, knowing the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ, confident in the salvation won for us on the cross. Confident that eternal life will be our end for "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him" (1 John 4:9).
Praise God for His undeserved love, revealed in Jesus Christ!
