"1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure." - 1 John 3:1-3.
I was planning to post another blog, continuing my reflection on the "Our Greatest Idol" sermon, but I am consumed with another thought: the love of the Father. The unconditional, unearned love of my Father God through Jesus Christ.
Sy Rogers (http://www.syrogers.com) just finished leading twelve hours of sessions this week here at the Teen Mania campus on the topic of sexual redemption, and though God has already done so much healing in my heart and mind already this past year and a half in this area, it was such an encouragement to have the man here! He formerly lived a gay lifestyle, even going so far as to become a transvestite for two years, before encountering the love of God and surrendering his life to Jesus Christ. Now he's married with a married daughter who, as he just announced in his closing Q&A session with us, will be giving birth to his grand-child in the spring. It is so beautiful to see the restoration that God has done in Sy's life, and how God has used it to bring healing to the lives of so many of God's children.
It is amazing to think that God loves us so much. I think that the reason most of us Christians hesitate to share the Gospel is because we haven't experienced the fullness of God's love for us. Once you begin to realize the secret of it-- that he really does love us, and not because of anything we have ever done but simply because he is a loving, wonderful Father God-- you don't want to stop talking about it. You want to tell everyone. It is the secret of life. It is the answer to the emptiness, to the hopelessness that eventually weighs us all. It is the antidote. It is the truth.
Sadly, most of us are never changed by this truth, it seems. Why? Because the gift of God's love can only change us if we humbly accept it and stop trying to earn our own way.
I recently heard it put this way: Imagine that it is Christmastime, and you have your shopping list ready by December 1st. You go shopping, you get all your gifts, and come December 23rd, one of your co-workers--someone you barely talk to, really-- decides to surprise you with a gift. Not just any gift, but something wonderful, something close to your heart. A very expensive gift. How would most of us feel? For a moment, the majority of us would be shocked and enthused by the gift. And then, we would realize that we never bought this person anything! Some of us would become angry, frustrated, stressed at the thought that now we had absolutely no time to buy something back for this person and return the favor. The point is, very few of us can simply receive a free gift. Most of the time, it becomes a burden to us.
We always want to feel like we've earned something, because of our pride. As Donald Miller says in his book Blue Like Jazz, nobody wants to be charity. But we are needy for salvation-- we have wrecked everything. Any of us can look at this world--shoot, just look in the mirror- and see that. God's gift of love and redeeming salvation is freely given to us. All we have to do is believe and receive. All we have to do is believe him.
"4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast." - Ephesians 2:4-9.
How beautiful to think that God-- who knows the deepest darknesses of my heart, who has seen me think and do wicked things, this God on whom I have spat with my actions and words-- that this God loves me. The Creator of the universe.
Don't we all desire to be seen? To be known deeply and cherished anyway? And this is exactly what God does. He searches our hearts, leaves no rock unturned, and loves us all the while.
How great the love of the Father!
No comments:
Post a Comment