Thoughts on Christ and His Word

Is hate simply the opposite of love or is it the consequence of love?  In God his wrath only flares up in the light of violations of love towards himself as Creator, towards his Son the Lord Jesus Christ, or his prized creation - human beings. When a father sees his daughter mistreated his anger flares up. Therefore his hate, anger, and wrath are a consequence of seeing unloving acts towards someone he loves dearly. These unloving acts are called evil and wickedness. Big words for "sin". Paul wrote in Romans 12:9 "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." We love people sincerely from the heart. We hate the evil acts of other people that sin against those we love. In his book Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund he wrote "Jesus pronounced searing denunciations on those who cause children to sin saying it would be a better fate if they were drowned (Matthew 18:6), not because he gleefully enjoys torturing the wicked but most deeply because he ...

The Prophet Micah was asking what God wanted from him. Burnt offerings? 1000 rams? His first born? But God answered that he wanted three things from him: Mic 6:8 - He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. God asked Micah to live a just life, doing what is right. He asked him to love Mercy, that is to learn to forgive others. And he asked him to be humble before God, which includes living in faith and submissive to God's will. This is God's will for our lives.

Have you ever thought about the depth of God's love? Paul writes in Romans 5:8  "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners Christ died for us." But have you ever thought why did Christ need to die for us? Why was the sacrifice of his Son necessary for the forgiveness of sins? Who wrote the rules on what was necessary for the Salvation of mankind and forgiveness of sins? Was it not God? Could He not have determined that eating a marshmallow or a hamburger could have brought us salvation? If nobody can tell God what to do, why didn't He invent an easier way for salvation? The only answer I come up with is so that he can demonstrate the depth of his love. It seems God chose the hardest and most gruesome way to bring about salvation so that we can understand the depth of his love for us. Praise God for the depth of his love demonstrated by choosing the sacrifice of his Son as the payment for our sins.

 Salvation always involves three attitudes. 1. A recognition of our sinfulness and inability to save ourselves. 2. A recognition of who is the true God and accepting Him as our only Savior. For Israel it was recognizing the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the one who took them out of slavery in Egypt. 3. The asking for forgiveness of sins from our only Savior. For us in N.T. times,  that  is Jesus  Christ.  This is clearly seen in Hosea 14:1-4. "Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall!  Take words with you and return to the Lord . Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.  Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses. We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.”  “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. Hosea 14:1-4 NIV