God Is Love

December 7

God is love. God gave Jesus, the perfect God/Man as the faultless sacrifice for man’s sin because God is love. God shed abroad His Holy Spirit to quicken the heart of sinful man and awaken him to his need for a Savior—because God is love. God will forgive all manner of sin—because God is love.

“Well,” the unbeliever might ask, “what’s the big deal? God—if there is a God—is love; He cares about man so much, there’s no way He’d punish him by sending him to hell. Everyone will go to Heaven!” Although God disdains the thought of sending man to hell (hell is for the wicked, fallen angel and his minions, not for man), His righteousness compels Him to relegate anyone to that abysmal place who does not receive Jesus as Savior.

God cannot look upon sin, so no sin can dwell in Heaven. Jesus’ blood covers man’s sin and places upon him a robe of righteousness. All sinful man need do to be justified in God’s eyes is to accept Jesus as his Savior and Lord. The transformation is so complete when the fallen creatures that we are receive His free gift that we no longer reflect the errant nature of man, but we reflect the perfect beauty of Jesus.

From that point, we, “Live a life of love just as Christ loves us and gave Himself for us as a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God…Remind one another of His great offering with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs that make music in your hearts to the Lord…because we are part of His body,” Ephesians 5:2, 19, 30. When His love overflows from us, all men will be bathed in its salvation power.