Everyone wants to be loved… but what is love?  In our world love has been reduced to a fluttery feeling one gets when the object of our “love” is around.  But feelings are fickle.  They can change in an instant, over a conflict, or even when something (or someone) better comes along.  There is very little security in that kind of love.  That’s not the kind of love that can be depended upon, and it explains how people can jump from one relationship to another.  So how can anyone know if they are truly loved?

The bible tells us that God IS love (1 John 4:8).  He defines what love is… because He is the embodiment of it.  It Is His nature to love.  Everything He does is done in love… even when He expresses wrath or judgment.  The love that defines God is not without feeling, but it isn’t driven by feelings.  God’s love for us is a commitment to our good.  And since God does not change, neither does His commitment to pursue our good.  That’s something we can depend on.  It is a love that is secure.

The greatest expression of God’s love for us is in Jesus Christ. John 3:16 tells us plainly that God loved the world (and all of us in it) so much “… that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  This great act of love was the means by which God attained our greatest good.

 God’s Perfection

God is Holy (Revelation 4:8).  That certainly means He is absolutely pure and right, but it means more than that too.  The basic meaning of the word “holy” is “to be set apart.”  When applied to God it means that He must separate Himself from anything that is unholy, impure, unrighteous or sinful.  God cannot then allow anything (or anyone) into His holy presence that is tainted by sin.  Nothing sinful is allowed in God’s heaven.  Even the slightest bit of it would pollute it and make it less than perfect or holy.

 Mankind’s Problem

This poses a serious problem for us.  We are all sinful.  Romans 3:23 tells us that “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Can you think of anyone who hasn’t sinned… who hasn’t done at least one wrong thing?  Since we are all sinful and imperfect, then none of us can be allowed into God’s holy heaven.  We must be kept separate from him.  This is the state that we exist in right now and it will continue forever unless something changes our state.  Romans 6:23 reminds us that “… the wages of sin is death…”  The death referred to here is eternal death… or separation from God forever.  The bible calls this Hell.  This is an inexpressible horror!  To be separated from God is to be separated from all good and from all love forever.  Hell is no party.  It is darkness and misery and doom.

God’s Solution

But… God so loved us that He gave us Jesus.  God became human in the person of Jesus.  He became one of us.  To be sure, it allows us to identify with Him, and Jesus most certainly showed us how to live life as God intended.  But the reason why Jesus came was to die.  He had to become human so that His body could die.  The wages of sin is death.  That means the just penalty for sin is death… eternal separation from God.  Jesus came to pay that penalty for us.  He was the only one who could. 

Only God is without sin.  Jesus was authentically a human, but as God, he was without sin.  He is the only being in existence who qualifies to pay our penalty for us.  One sinner dying for another would accomplish nothing.  But a spotlessly perfect substitute who came to die in our place accomplishes everything.  That’s what the cross was all about.  Jesus allowed himself to be crucified so that He could take all our sins on Himself.  This is God’s greatest act of love.  Romans 5:8 says, “… God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

 Our Response

God accepted this sacrifice in our behalf and now He extends His forgiveness and grace to all who will place their trust in Jesus.  He alone can be the object of our trust because He alone can save us.  The Apostle Paul once told a jailer in the city of Philippi, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31) We are saved by God’s grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8).  You and I must trust in Jesus.  He is THE way… the only way.  No one can come into God’s presence apart from Jesus. (John 14:6) When we trust in Jesus, God covers us with the perfection, righteousness and holiness of Jesus and then declares US to be righteous ones.  It is the only way our stain of sin can be covered.  But when we are, we have life, not only for now… but forever.  1 John 5:11-12 says, “… God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”  It is as simple as that.  So, please… believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.  Then you can live in God’s love forever.