I said a couple blog entries ago that I would talk about five different areas of understanding God has been bringing me into: Living loved, growing in trust, embracing freedom, sharing his life, and incarnating his love in the world. I took a side road to talk about living in contentment -- not totally unrelated! -- and now I'm back on track. The first of these understandings is learning to live loved by our Father.
Living loved as a believer in Jesus means that you first of all understand how solid God's love is for you. It's pretty simple, really. It's also powerful. No one ever has loved you or ever will love you as much as God our Father does. You stand firm in his grace. That means what you do or don't do will not change his love for you. There is nothing you can do that will make him love you any more or any less. His love is perfect ... perfection. It isn't tied to your whims. His love and grace are not based on your performance.
Are you concerned that God will give up on you? You need not be. Are you worried that he will at some point have his fill of you and become disillusioned with you? How could he? He never had any illusions about you in the first place. His knowledge and love are perfect. He knew what he was getting into. You have a father who loves you more than anyone could ever love you.
Living loved also means that God isn't playing a guilt-trip motivation game with you. He doesn't use guilt and condemnation to shame you into obedience and growth. If you are a believer in Jesus and you are experiencing condemnation and shame, there is something about God's love you get to learn. There is something about the cross you get to discover as he reveals himself to you. Condemnation doesn't come from Him. There is no condemnation to anyone who is in Christ. This understanding can be found in chapter 8 of Romans:
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
Think about it? If we live in the foundation of his unwavering love and unfathomable grace, and we certainly do, we are walking in the Spirit. We no longer need to live by our fleshly desires and motivations. Guilt, shame, and condemnation are not on God's agenda for us and they do not help us live in God's life. He knows that and has removed them by the wonderful cross event and he has no need to use them to grow us. In Jesus, there is no condemnation, there is no shame. (When Hebrews says that Jesus "despised the shame" on the cross, it means a whole lot more than he was uncomfortable being naked. But, that's for another time.)
Are you concerned that God will give up on you? You need not be. Are you worried that he will at some point have his fill of you and become disillusioned with you? How could he? He never had any illusions about you in the first place. His knowledge and love are perfect. He knew what he was getting into. You have a father who loves you more than anyone could ever love you.
Living loved also means that God isn't playing a guilt-trip motivation game with you. He doesn't use guilt and condemnation to shame you into obedience and growth. If you are a believer in Jesus and you are experiencing condemnation and shame, there is something about God's love you get to learn. There is something about the cross you get to discover as he reveals himself to you. Condemnation doesn't come from Him. There is no condemnation to anyone who is in Christ. This understanding can be found in chapter 8 of Romans:
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
Think about it? If we live in the foundation of his unwavering love and unfathomable grace, and we certainly do, we are walking in the Spirit. We no longer need to live by our fleshly desires and motivations. Guilt, shame, and condemnation are not on God's agenda for us and they do not help us live in God's life. He knows that and has removed them by the wonderful cross event and he has no need to use them to grow us. In Jesus, there is no condemnation, there is no shame. (When Hebrews says that Jesus "despised the shame" on the cross, it means a whole lot more than he was uncomfortable being naked. But, that's for another time.)
We also do not need to try to earn points with God. He is not keeping score. Paul said as much in verse four of Romans 8. God did what he did in Jesus so that "the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." You could never earn enough points to gain God's favor. You will never do enough to deserve his grace. Never. You will never be good enough to deserve his love. God knows this and that is why Jesus went to the cross. By taking our place on the cross, he filled out the score card for you and me. Toss the one you're holding and use that hand to grab his hand. ;)
You know what else? He loves you so much that he wants to make himself known to you. He wants you to know him. He wants to show you each day how to live in the freedom of his love. He wants to teach you how to recognize his voice. I am learning that Father not only loves us, but he likes us. He wants to spend time with us. And, he is the Creator and has so many creative ways to speak to us.
Now, does this all mean that God doesn't care how I live, what I do? "Sin all you want. God is a wonderful, forgiving God. Don't worry about it." Of course it doesn't mean that! God is greatly concerned about sin. Sin is what diminishes me from the person he has created and recreated me to be. It is destructive to me and to all those around me. It destroys his intent for our world. What I have discovered is that he hasn't given me a new set of rules to live by. On the contrary, he has "poured out his love into our hearts by his Holy Spirit" who comes to live in us. (You can read about that in chapter five of Romans.)
This fact of God's love in me means that instead of giving me a new set of laws to live by he has given me the power to walk in freedom by his Spirit in me. The scriptures come alive now as he begins to reveal his purposes and intent for life on this planet. The words of God take life and rich meaning and are no longer dead words on a page, rules and laws for pleasing God. My Abba Father (Romans 8) lives in me through his Spirit and quickens that Word in me. As I begin to understand the scriptures, I learn how God works in me, in others, and in the world. I am freed from sin, free to live loved by him and to love others in the same way.
What you learn about his love and experience in him leads to greater trust and I'll talk more about that later.
Live Loved today!
~ Skip
~ Skip
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