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Pastor's Blog April 29, 2021
"View of God in Romans VIII"
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Romans 5:8 states, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (NASB). This claim has been advocated by Christians as the best interpretation of what happened at the cross: that the death of Jesus on the cross is a demonstration of God's real and genuine love for us.
But there is an important question we must ask ourselves in order to see Jesus' crucifixion and death as a demonstration or expression of God's love: HOW is the death of Jesus on the cross a demonstration of God's love for us? The reason this question is so important is because it means the difference between the cross as an act of divine child abuse and the cross as our salvation by a loving God. If Jesus' death shows us that God demands death in order to be satisfied enough to forgive sinners, then we're all trapped in a nightmare. If, however, Jesus' death shows us that God is willing to die in our place so that we can have abundant life, then we all find ourselves to be the recipients of the best news imaginable!
So how is the death of Jesus on the cross a demonstration of God's love for us? Jesus' death is simply the focal point of God loving us into our experience of salvation. It's because God loves us that Jesus can die for the ungodly at just the right time (verse 6). It's because God loves us that Jesus died for us while we were far away from God, rather than because we had somehow found a way to return to God on our own (verse 8). It's because God loves us that Jesus' blood justifies us before God and rescues us from any future divine wrath against sin (verse 9). It's because God loves us that he freely chose to reconcile us to himself through Jesus while we hated him and were against him - and, further, it's because God loves us that we are currently reconciled to God and experience salvation by Jesus' life (verse 10). And it's because God loves us that we get to exult in God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (verse 11).
Friends, it is through Jesus' death that God is able to show us his love by giving us the blessings of salvation, reconcilation, and friendship with himself. Ah, how beautiful is God's love for us!
God bless,
Pastor Nathaniel Gamble
