Gaylord Diaz's Blog

GOD’S LOVE THE REMEDY FOR REJECTION, continued

GOD’S LOVE FOR YOU IS SACRIFICIAL.  Do you know how much God loved you as a sinner? You might think not very much since you were a sinner. But the truth of the matter is, God loved you very, very much! Ephesians 2:4 tells us that God loved us with a great love! But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us. GOD DIDN’T JUST LOVE YOU: HE LOVED YOU A WHOLE LOT. And that was when you were still a sinner! Reading verses 4 and 5 together: But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, {5} Even when we were dead in sins.

God loved you so much that He sacrificed His own Son on the cross to save you and have you. John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Now how much did God love Jesus? Do you think He didn’t love Jesus very much? Brethren, God loved Jesus infinitely. And the magnanimity of God’s love for you is seen in the fact that He sacrificed His own Son to save you.

You see, God loved you. But as a sinner you were estranged, separated, and alienated from Him. The Bible says, The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies (Psalms 58:3). You were not only estranged, but you were condemned to die an eternal death in Hell: For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

But God came up with a plan whereby the wages of your sins could be paid without you having to pay it and die for it. God would send His Son Jesus to suffer the penalty of your sin. Jesus would die in your place! Isaiah 53:5 tells us that he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. Verse 8 goes on to say, for the transgression of my people was he stricken. Verse 11 continues, he shall bear their iniquities. And concludes with verse 12, he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

The point I’m trying to make is, God not only loved you: He loved you a lot and He loved you enough to send Jesus to die for you so that you could be saved. The point is, GOD DIDN’T WANT YOU TO GO TO HELL. AND GOD, MY FRIENDS, HASN’T CHANGED HIS MIND ABOUT THAT: He still doesn’t want you to go to Hell. His love has done, and will continue to do, everything to keep you from spending an eternity without Him. You’ve got a part to play in this, but this is another sermon for another time. The important thing here is for you to recognize God’s love for you and see the magnanimity of that love.

THE RESULTS OF GOD’S SACRIFICIAL LOVE.  Now that God has saved you, there are all kinds of benefits you enjoy in this hour. For example,

You have been reconciled to God. You and God are no longer enemies, but friends! Colossians 1:20-21 reads, And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. {21} And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled (you.) Jesus puts it this way in John 3:18, He that believeth on him is not condemned. Brethren, are you a believer? If you are, then you should know that you are no longer condemned in God’s sight! You may not be perfect right now. God knows that. But the point is, you’re not condemned. Romans 8:1 says the same thing: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. No condemnation now!

You have been accepted by God. Jesus, brethren, didn’t die so that you could be rejected by God. He died so that you would be accepted by Him! Ephesians 1:6 comforts us with these words, he hath made us accepted in the beloved. There are two things in this verse that I’d like for you to see. The first is the fact that God has already accepted you or made you accepted. Your acceptance isn’t in the future, it’s not reserved for sometime in the future, and IT’S NOT DEPENDENT ON SOMETHING YOU’VE GOT TO DO. YOU’RE ACCEPTED RIGHT NOW! Brethren, God’s not rejected you! He’s accepted you! You stand accepted in His sight this very hour.

The second thing worth noting here is the meaning of the word accepted. You see, accepted  in the Greek means more than just acceptance. It means to be favored and shown favor. God, brethren, not only accepts you: He shows you favor. He does good things for you. He bestows His goodness and kindness on you.

It reminds me so much of the prodigal son come home. Do you know what the father did when his long-lost son came home? He showered him with goodness: Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: {23} And bring hither the fatter calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: {24} For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found (Luke 15:22-24). Brethren, when God accepts you, He does all kinds of good things for you! When you became a Christian His heart was full of joy. And, like the father of the prodigal come home, He hasn’t regretted you becoming His son. He has no regrets.

You have access to God. You can go to God with any need. You can come before Him at any hour of any day just to talk to Him and commune with Him. Ephesians 2:18 tells us, For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. God, friends, hasn’t denied you access to Himself. He doesn’t want you to isolate yourself from Him. He doesn’t want you outside the throne room. When Christ died, the veil in the Temple was rent (Matthew 27:51). Whereas only the High Priest could enter in the Holy of Holies, which was God’s presence; now everyone of His people could enter into His presence. Everyone has access to His throne. You’ve been reconciled to Him and He wants you to come to Him and fellowship with Him.

God invites you to come to Him and ask Him for anything you need. God knows you have needs. He knows there are things you would like to have. God wants you to come to Him in prayer and ask. Hebrews 4:16 exhorts us to come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Now the thing that I’d like for you to see in this verse is the fact that when you come to God in prayer, you do not come in vain. When you come to the throne of grace, you obtain mercy, you find grace. You see, God wants you to obtain, to find, to have, to get, whatever it is you need. Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 7:7, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Brethren, God wants to bless you, do good things for you, and give you those things you have need of or desire. You serve a good and giving God!

GOD’S LOVE FOR YOU IS UNENDING! God’s love for you is eternal and undying. He will not quit loving you, He will keep on loving you, and He will love you no matter what.

John 13:1 means so much to me. It reads, Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. Jesus knew everything about these men. He knew one of them would betray Him. He knew one would deny Him. He knew they all would desert Him in the Garden. He knew all the sins and mistakes they would henceforth and ever commit. But do you know what? Jesus kept right on loving them. He refused to quit loving them. And none of their sins, failures, or human weaknesses deterred Jesus from going to the cross for them. None of what He knew convinced Him not to love them anymore.

God’s love for you, dear friend, will never come to an end. Jeremiah puts it this way: It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. {23} They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23). Why is the Lord’s love for you unending? How is it that God could continue to love you in spite of your weaknesses and sins? Brethren, He continues to love you no matter what because His love for you is sovereign and unmerited. YOU HAD ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS LOVING YOU. He loves you because it pleases Him to love you. His love for you isn’t conditional, it isn’t dependent on how good you are. Remember, He loved you while you were a sinner and unsaved.

So often, our love for one another or for people in general is conditional: I’ll love you if you love me back, or I’ll love you as long as you’re good and do what I want you to do. What happens when people mess up? So often, we quit loving them.

God’s love for you, brethren, isn’t like this. God keeps on loving you no matter what. Your sins do not deter Him from loving you. His compassions fail not. They are new every morning! Do you know what every morning means? It means GOD’S COMPASSIONS ARE WITH YOU EVERY SINGLE DAY OF YOUR LIFE. THERE IS NEVER A DAY, NOT ONE, WHERE GOD WITHHOLDS HIS LOVE FROM YOU AND REFUSES TO LOVE YOU. BRETHREN, GOD LOVES YOU EVERY DAY. INCLUDING TODAY!

Coming Up On My Next Blog Post, Part 4. I’ll be looking at how your sins affect God’s love for you. Wow! It’s going to be so exciting. I can’t hardly stand it! Bring a  futon. God’s going to floor you! (A mattress will work as well.)