“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1 NIV
The word “lavished” is, literally, “given”. It points to the fact that God’s love is not earned or deserved. Rather, it is a gift that comes from His undeserved favour or grace. Paul emphasizes this in Romans 5:6, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” We were helpless, ungodly, sinners and enemies of God. His great love is demonstrated in that He sent His Son to die for us while we were in such an awful condition! God is under no obligation to save us. He could have left us, as He left the fallen angels, with no way of salvation. He justly condemned them to the eternal fire without any chance of repenting and being saved. But, instead, He set His great love on us to raise us from spiritual death to life, and even more than that, to make us His beloved children through the new birth! The fact that God’s great love is a gift means that we cannot do anything to earn it or deserve it. All we can do is receive it. We cannot vow to pay it back because the cost is infinite and because God will not be anyone’s debtor. This means that our pride is one of the biggest factors that will prevent us from receiving and experiencing God’s love in Christ. But if we will acknowledge that we are sinners and that we cannot do anything to deserve or earn God’s love, the gift is there for the taking, no matter how badly we have sinned. All we can do is receive God’s gift of eternal life by faith and bow in wonder and thanks. The Father offers such great love to all who will receive it.
PRAYER THOUGHT
Father, I bow in wonder and thanks as I receive Your amazing love.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Father, all we can do is receive Your gift of eternal life by faith as we bow in wonder, thanks, and love in response to Your love. Thank You Father for offering such great love to all who will receive it. AMEN
I.B.R.A. Readings
1 Chronicles 1:1-27
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