Last posting we talked about the most encouraging thing anyone could hear is God saying to us “I love you.” To be loved by the Creator of the Universe is better than having the direct dial phone to the greatest lawyer, movie star or politician. To be loved by God is to affirm our worth. We are worthy of God’s love for the simple reason stated in the first book of the Bible. In Genesis, chapter 1: 26-27, it says this, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.'” The exact reason God loves us all so much is that we are modeled after Him. We are eternal spirits; everlasting souls. We are worthy of love because we have been molded, formed, breathed into and nurtured by the Creator of the Universe. And, as an old con once said to me, “God loves me, ‘cause God don’t make no junk.”
This love should not be taken for granted or treated as a McDonald’s Happy Meal toy. To fully understand the cost of God’s love for us is to grasp the power and good news behind it. We must comprehend the enormity of gift of God’s love. If someone paid a bill for you while your were away or in prison, you really cannot measure the depth of your gratitude until you know what the dollar amount of the debt that was paid on your behalf. If your friend paid the light bill or the cable charges, you might offer a sincere thank you, but that’s about it. If, however, your friend paid off a 7 year IRS bill that would have landed you in jail, evicted you from your residence and put your wife and family in a shelter, then the gratitude you feel would be immense.
This is what Jesus did for us. The price of His love for us what His death and agony of the cross. He took on our debt (sin) and paid off all the outstanding balances for each of us. When we “get this” we should not treat it as a trinket but rather we should embrace His love and ask how we can be of service to His sheep that are hurting, hungry and helpless.