How wonderful is the Scripture that says, “God is Love” (1 John 4:16). He’s truly righteous and yet He is perfect in love. But how can His great love get past His great righteousness to love us? It’s only by the cross of Christ. For it was there that Jesus satisfied the righteous demands of a holy God so that He indeed would be able to love those who come to Him, as broken and sinful as we are…freely.
By dying and taking our punishment on the cross, Jesus made a way for us to partake of His forgiveness and life. And to those who receive Him, Christ gives a new birth which brings healing and eternal life to the soul.
A Love Beyond this World
We are not accustomed to such a love. We live in a world full of fear, yes, a world that is run by fear. And yet, to the one who accepts Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for him or her, there is a love that is beyond this world. It’s like a color never seen before…the perfect love of God.
I appreciate the Scripture in Luke which says of Jesus: “That He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life” (Luke 1:74-75).
Serving God from Love
Do you know how we serve the Lord in true holiness and righteousness? We walk with him without fear. We grow in an intimate relationship with him. We reverence Him as God to be sure, but we let the “perfect love” that “casts out fear” (1 John 4:18) draw us close to Him. And in so doing, we begin to be conformed into God’s image, not by fear or condemnation but by His love. If we have given our lives to Christ and have become Christians, reborn of His Spirit, then we have such a relationship. The law’s demand was “hostile to us” and Jesus has taken it “out of the way, nailing it to His cross” (Colossians 2:13-16). Our righteousness and holiness then become the fruit of a life abiding in Christ (John 15:5)—a life of abiding in love itself—“not by might, nor by power but by My Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6).
A New Relationship
God’s love was both poured out for us and proven to us by the cross of Christ. There God satisfied the righteous demands of the law so that we might be able to draw near to Him. This surely is good news! For those who have obeyed Jesus and turned to Him for salvation, a new relationship with God has indeed begun! As Jesus said, “I call you not servants…but friends” (John 15:13-16).
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The punishment for our peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
In Christ Jesus,
Richard O. Webb
HeartoftheLord.org
