Loving Us
“… there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…”
Romans 8:1 (NIV)
John 1:1 says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Verse 14 adds: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The Word who became flesh is Jesus Christ. He is one with the Father.
If you want to know what the Father is like, just look at Jesus, because Jesus is the perfect revelation of the Father. Jesus told Philip, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). He told the crowd, “I and the Father are one.”
We know how the Father feels about us because we know how Jesus feels about us.
The God of the Bible is one God who is three divine Persons, in perfect unity and accord, who love each other in perfect love and dwell in indescribable joy. God created us for the express purpose of participating in that love through our adoption into Christ, who is eternally the beloved of the Father.
God created all humans in his image, and he wants all people to share in the love shared by the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Son became a human, the man Jesus Christ, to reconcile all humanity to God through his birth, life, death and resurrection and ascension. In Christ, humanity is loved and accepted by the Father. Because Jesus Christ has already paid for our sins, and there is no longer any debt to pay. The Father has already forgiven us, and he eagerly desires that we turn to him.
When we respond to the Holy Spirit’s urging by turning to God, believing the good news, and picking up our cross and following Jesus, the Spirit leads us into the transformed life of the kingdom of God.
Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
And in Colossians 1:19-29, Paul wrote: “… God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [Jesus], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:19-20).
In Jesus Christ, God has brought us into his own household. He has, through the atoning work of Jesus, healed our minds and hearts, and made us adopted children of the Father, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ and full members of the household of God.
God loves the world and beckons every person to come to Christ and take part in his joyful life. There is no person whom God does not love, want, and include. In Christ, following the Spirit’s lead, we are all made free to come to the Father.
Prayer
Thank you, Father, that you love us and that your desire is we participate in your life. Help us to follow the Spirit’s lead in coming to you through Christ.
Amen
Study by Joseph Tkach