Devotions that Resonate Truth

Welcome to the Family

 
1 John 3:1 
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God!                                   
The letter of 1 John is very different from other letters in the new testament, like Romans or Galatians. The author, John, doesn’t step us through a linear argument or truth. Instead, he circles around, covering and covering the same idea adding a bit more or explaining it differently. 
Here’s an illustration of what the letter of 1 John is doing, that really helped me understand and appreciate the truths in it. 
I want you to picture yourself dating the perfect human being. Then you meet his or her family and they are incredible, too. You get married and are now part of this family – really a part! And you are excited about this, but you aren’t really sure how to be, how to act, how to relate to Uncle Frank. What’s expected of you? How do you see and treat the rest of the world now? Does this change things? 
An old white-haired grandpa hobbles up and he sits you down in a rocking chair and starts to tell you everything you need to know - the benefits of being in the family, the riches you have been given and all that is yet to come! He tells you about your new father and what he is like, what is important to him, and the love that your new family members have for you, and how you should treat each one of them. Lastly, he explains the threats to you from the world, now that you are in this family, and how to respond. 
He doesn’t go through each of these once, he explains it and then remembers another aspect or detail and jumps back to something he’s told you and elaborates on it more – just like you would if I asked you what your family or roommates or friends were like. You’re trying to put people and relationships into words. That is what John is doing here in 1 John. And it’s not “like you were part of a new family” – and please don’t miss this – YOU REALLY ARE part of the best family in the universe now, and for the rest of eternity, and it’s just going to get better! 
John is saying, “Here’s what your new spiritual dad (God the Father) and brother (Jesus) are like and have done to bring you into their family forever.” We could substitute dad and brother and it would be true for us. 
 
God is light, and in him is no darkness at all 
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 
We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 
He is the propitiation for our sins, and for the sins of the whole world 
The promise he made to us – eternal life 
He is righteous 
He is pure 
He appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin
The Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil 
He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world 
Love is from God 
God is love 
God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him 
In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins
He has given us His Spirit 
God is love 
He first loved us  
His commandments are not burdensome 
The Spirit is the truth 
He hears us in whatever we ask 
He always answers us 
He always protects us 
The Son of God has come and given us understanding 
He is the true God and eternal life 
 
See what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God! 

There Is One Mediator

 
1 Timothy 2:5-6For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 
Verse 5 makes very clear that there aren’t many Gods, there is one God, a single God to all humans. This is a big truth statement and defines Christianity as a monotheistic religion. It’s still very broad, though, because many religions believe in just one God, but each offers very different claims on ways or routes to knowing and being loved by that one God. 
Well, the very next phrase in verse 5 narrows down the Biblical view much further and separates it from all other views. It says, “there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” That is very clear cut. There is just one God for everyone, but there is also just one mediator, Christ Jesus, who was a man.
If we picture the many suggested paths to God as footpaths branching out in different directions, each taking a different route to the same destination, the Bible is saying that eventually they all become dead ends, except one. If we follow the path that the Bible claims is the one true way, we still come to a deep ravine that we cannot cross alone. God desires that you be saved and that you know him, he desires peace and for his promises to be yours. But there’s been a terrible breach in the original agreement, the old covenant between you and God. If you sin, then you lose it all.
I lost it all. You have, too. We burned down the only bridge to God.
So, a third party is needed, a mediator. In an official setting, a mediator is a person who attempts to help people involved in a conflict come to an agreement. Normally this person’s job is to be detached from the conflict and objective, to help both sides to compromise, to admit and make amends for their part in the conflict, and to coach the two parties until enough overlap and agreement can be found to resolve the conflict. To use the path and bridge picture – mediators don’t build bridges, they encourage each party to rebuild their part of the bridge and meet in the middle so that they can reconnect. Is Jesus really good at doing that with us and with God? Is that why he’s the only mediator?
No. Because you can’t coach a holy God into accepting what is unholy. He doesn’t compromise with sin, that’s what makes him perfect and unstained and pure. Jesus doesn’t ask God to try to see the situation from our viewpoint, to cut us some slack because he knows what it is like to make mistakes. Instead, Jesus tells his Father, “I know what it’s going to take for you and Nate to be restored, he needs to be made perfect like you, and so all his offenses must be paid for in full. Would that bring peace back between you two?” And God says, “Yes. I would fully receive him back forever, if that were done.” Then Jesus looks over at me and says, “Do we have a deal? That sounds fair to me. It’s in your original agreement.” 
And in despair, I say, “No, I can’t repay the debt, I can’t uphold my side of that deal. We both know that I will exist in lonely punishment and agony for eternity and that won’t even pay the first installment. I have no hope to rebuild the bridge I destroyed. Is there another way?” 
There was no way. There was only one who could pay the price to rebuild the bridge…the mediator himself. Hold on a second, isn’t a mediator just here to guide? “Christ Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all.” As Hebrews 9:15 says, “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”
Wow. The mediator cares so much, that he gives himself, he pays the price to build the bridge! He is no uninvolved coach; he is not a detached third party. He truly gets in the middle of the conflict, in order to establish a new agreement, a new covenant between the parties; he becomes the new bridge. And I must mention that God the Father is not detached and angry in this, either. He is angry with sin, yes. But it was his plan from the beginning to offer Jesus in our place. As verse 4 says, he desires that all people be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. The Father gladly joins in the sacrifice needed to be restored to us. Oh, how wonderful it is to live with God on the other side of the ravine! 

The Word Became Human

 
John 1:14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The first two gospels (Matthew and Mark) were written between 50-60 AD. Then Luke came after, around 60-61 AD. Matthew and Luke give us our traditional story of the baby born in a smelly barn, and Mark moves fast and jumps right in at the baptism of Jesus. Perhaps even in the early years of the church people thought mostly of the lowly human side to the incarnation. After all, it’s a side we most naturally relate to. So when John writes his gospel twenty to thirty years later, it’s a very different side of the same coin. We don’t even find out who he is writing about until verse 17! 
John describes a being he calls “the Word” in such awe-inspiring language that it doesn’t sound like a human being at all. Let’s consider John’s words, as if for the first time.
The Word existed in the beginning (v1) – so he’s really old, that’s pretty cool. Some kind of really old being became a human.
The Word was with God in the beginning (v1) – so he’s powerful and on God’s side, with direct access to God too. That’s important to know.
All things that were made were made through The Word (v2-3) – wait a second. So, he wasn’t just there at the beginning – he wasn’t created then, but was a creator. He’s really powerful and designed and created every single particle upon which he then built everything in the vast universe? That creator-being became a human? This is getting interesting.
In him was life and that life was the light of men (v4), the true light, which gives light to everyone (v9) – so he not only has jaw-dropping power, there is some kind of special life in him that is shining forth to everyone – there is no place this light cannot touch or reach. What is this life? Any stipulations on getting it from him?
To all who receive him, who believe in him, he gives the right to be called children of God, born of God (v12) – so the Word has power from God, but also the authority to change humans into children of God – that is incredible! Yet not for all people, but only those who believe in him. Makes sense. This must have been an amazing being to see. What was that like?
Verse 14 says “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” So when John lived with the Word he saw a unique glory from God – a glory shining full of grace and full of truth, like no other being ever has. Can you imagine seeing that? And yet, he became human, he became flesh, not just a god looking like a human.
John the Baptist, a prophet of God, saw this glory. The first time he saw The Word, he cried out “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (v29) I can’t take away a single sin from myself, let alone the world. Who is this being!? I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the next verse said the Word was a giant man with a gold sash, white hair, bronze legs, eyes like a flame of fire, a two-edged sword coming from his mouth and a face like the sun shining in full strength!
He actually does show back up looking exactly like that in Revelation, but Verse 29 actually says, “he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’” So the Word…is Jesus!?
You mean this elaborate introduction is all about the cute, helpless baby born in a smelly barn? That’s the Word? The being John is describing and saying you have to believe in to be called a child of God? The unattractive, poor, Jewish rabbi who died as a criminal? Yes.
You see, he was born to do the work of a lamb, so his power is veiled in weakness and humility. He will do the work of a Lion one day and will come dressed in terrible beauty. So, embrace the kindness and approachability Jesus offers when you look into his patient, forgiving, human eyes, but do not fail to also see the powerful fire of heavenly holiness and of cosmic creation burning there.

To Present Us Holy and Blameless

 
Colossians 1:15, 19-22
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  
[In] him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.
Often when we meditate on the Good News, we reflect on something that has happened and is true – “we were reconciled to God”. Often, we meditate on a name or attribute of Jesus – “our Passover lamb”. Who is solving this problem? It is Christ (verses 15-19). Who has the problem? Verse 21 says, “you… were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.”  Today I want to do something different. It is not a “what” or a “who” question, but a “why” question that I want us to think about.
In business, when we encounter a very difficult problem, where it is tough to get to the root and solve it, there’s a technique called “5 Whys” – where you continue to ask why, until you get to the root. The technique was originally developed by Sakichi Toyoda and was used within the Toyota Motor Corporation during the evolution of its manufacturing methodologies.[1]
It works sort of like a 5-year-old asking “why, why, why, why, why.” Let’s do that today with the gospel in these verses from Colossians.
Why is being alienated from God a problem? Because God is holy and blameless and cannot accept us as we are.
Why is that hard to solve? Because we can’t “unalienate” ourselves from God.
Why? Because we are constantly doing evil deeds (not to mention our thoughts or intentions behind even the good deeds we perform).
Why? Because we are slaves to sin.
Why? Because Adam sinned and passed along to all mankind the nature and proclivity to sin.
So, five layers down, that is the root of our problem. To solve it, someone would need to remove every sin separating us from God – not just up to today or the problem would instantly return and be just as bad as before. It must be removed for all time.
That is what Jesus Christ did for us. Look at verse 22 – (what?) he has now reconciled (how?) in his body of flesh by his death, (why?) in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. Nothing and no one else go  down the steps of our problem to the very root and changes us and fixes us. No other religion even dares offer a solution to us that will transform us and clean us in our entirety, inside and out, head to toe. They all require us to be an agent in fixing our problem.
It may sound believable to say, “You can look inside and believe in yourself and be better.” But it is outrageous to say, “You must look inside and believe in yourself to undo every mistake you’ve made, wrong thought you’ve entertained, and every hurtful action you’ve ever done.” Instead, we must look outside and believe in the perfect work of Jesus; he promises to present us holy and blameless and above reproach to God.
 
[1] Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_whys
 

Rich In Mercy (Part 2)

 
Ephesians 2:1-7 
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 
Last time, in Part 1 of this devotion, we delved into the idea of being dead in our trespasses and how trespassing is not a minor offense when it is an important place and person you are trespassing against (like the White House). We were dead in our trespasses, deserving eternal punishment.   
These verses tell us that’s what we justly deserve and then say, “But God, being rich in mercy...” 
God is rich in mercy.  
What is this “stuff” called mercy and how does one become rich in it? As a kid I remember hearing that you can think of “grace” as getting what you don’t deserve and “mercy” as not getting what you do deserve. I think that’s a helpful way to differentiate the two and I was happy to leave it at that for many years – mercy is me being spared from what I deserve. Then a few years ago I heard a preacher define mercy in a new way. He explained that to show mercy is to cut short suffering, to reduce someone else’s pain when you have the power to do so. This enriches my appreciation for mercy. I picture William Wallace at the end of Braveheart, being tortured for what he believed in, as the crowd of onlookers begin crying out, “Mercy!” Enough suffering, cut it short! Mercy! 
How does God’s mercy apply to me? Why should I care that he is rich in mercy?  
We trespassed, remember? Repeatedly, far down the path of sin, going against all that God is and loves. So we need the suffering that is coming our way to be cut short. 
To become rich in money or land or fame, one must accumulate and stockpile it. That’s what it means to be rich. But mercy doesn’t work that way, does it? You can’t become rich in mercy by holding it back – someone who shows no mercy becomes bankrupt in mercy. The only way to become rich in mercy…is to give it away and the more generous you are in your giving, the richer you become. So, tying this into the definitions above, a person who is rich in mercy generously cuts short the suffering of others by not giving them what they deserve. God is rich in mercy. 
So, how rich is God in mercy? He is the richest being in mercy, without question or challenger. If Forbes had a Mercy 500 ranking, God would be #1 and they couldn’t put a number to his mercy. #2 on the list would be hopelessly embarrassed to even be compared. Because God has offered every human soul the immeasurable mercy of full forgiveness and then has piled on top of that “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”  
Finally, and most importantly, remember that there is no net loss of suffering in this deal. Meaning, for God to remain a good and holy judge, there must be punishment and suffering for every trespass of his law. But praise be to God that he did not show mercy to his Son, Jesus, as he bore our sorrows on the cross - by His grace we are saved! 

Rich In Mercy (Part 1)

Ephesians 2:1-7 
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 
There are two pictures in these verses that I am excited to share with you and I just can’t fit it into one devotion, so I’m splitting it into two parts and you’ll have to come back for Part 2. 
Here are the truth statements: First, we were dead in our trespasses. Second, God is rich in mercy. How do these two truths work together in these verses? How does God’s mercy apply to me? Why should I care that he is rich in mercy?  
The verse says I trespassed.  
There was a clear boundary line set by God and a big “No Trespassing” sign posted throughout his perfect instructions and I repeatedly crossed that line. And I didn’t just put a toe over the line, I trespassed far down the path of sin, following the course of this world, with Satan himself leading the parade. We tend to think of trespassing as a minor offense, with a minor punishment. But that completely depends on where you’re trespassing, doesn’t it!? Climbing over the fence onto Mr. Blackwell’s ranch, not such a big deal. Trespassing onto an army base, different story! Sneaking into the White House would likely mean being shot on sight and few would be surprised or think the action too strong. Why? You were only trespassing. These verses tell us that trespassing into sin, living in the passions of our flesh, is always punishable by death, eternal spiritual death. Sin is a big deal to God, it goes against all that he is and loves. This is what I deserved. 
I deserve eternity apart from God, in Hell even, for my trespassing – so do you. Try to quantify that amount of justly earned suffering. You can’t. It is infinite suffering. So, if God was to cut short my suffering and yours to 10,000 years in Hell, how much mercy would he be showing us? An infinite amount of mercy! So much less suffering!  
But he showed us even more. God has not reserved one year, one day, even one second for us in Hell. He has completely removed all punishment for our sins! As the hymn “It is Well With My Soul” says, “My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more.”  
As author Tim Challies notes, “Can you imagine singing, ‘My sin, not the whole but in part’? … To be partly forgiven is to be wholly damned. Partial forgiveness is complete condemnation. The Christian and the Christian alone knows the pure delight of God’s full and final forgiveness.”
I’m so thankful to personally know the delight of God’s full and final forgiveness.  
Now that we’ve explored the meaning of being dead in our trespasses, we are ready to delve into Part 2 next time - What is this “stuff” called mercy and how does one become rich in it? 

Christ Reconciled Us To Himself

 
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 
 If you look up the word “reconcile” in a Greek lexicon, to see what the word in Greek meant to the original audience when the Bible was written, you’ll see that reconcile means “to change, exchange, as coins for others of equivalent value”, and also “to reconcile (those who are at variance), to return to favor with, to receive one into favor.” 
We needed to be reconciled to God. We were at odds with God.  
We have sinned against God, so we lost our holiness. There was a variance on the scales of holiness – on the one side, none. On the other side, the full weight of God’s holiness. There is only one thing of equal value to the full weight of God’s holiness, that will reconcile the account and cause it to balance and that is…the full weight of God’s holiness.  
 It’s needed on both sides. 
And believer, for our sake God the Father made Jesus to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him, we might stare down at our side of the balance in shocked and wonderful amazement, and see that we have become the righteousness of God! 
Jesus’s spiritual coin of equivalent value sits on your side, with God’s on the other, and you are returned into favor with, are received into favor with God. And nothing can change that! And no one can ever remove it. Let’s bask in that reality. 
Even as we bask, let’s do the jobs to which we were appointed – as ambassadors it’s our job and should be our joy to tell everyone what God has done for us. Let’s encourage others to look down at their balances. They too have fallen short of the glory of God and have no hope to manufacture the righteousness of God that needs to be put on their side of the scale.  
John 1:12 
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. 

The Lie We Keep Falling For

 
Romans 5:20-21 
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
We humans are suckers for the one, most dangerous lie. It has haunted us from the last day in the Garden of Eden, to the minute you are reading this right now. The lie was devised by the Devil, the Father of Lies (John 8:44), so no wonder it is so “good” and we keep falling for it. Like all “great” lies, it is half-true. This also is key to its power over us. 
The lie accuses us first, then tells us how to feel, then tells us what to do. 
The lie tells us that you have done many, countless bad things. Just look back over your life, do you dare deny it? 
Having proven this point, don’t you feel ashamed? You should! 
Finally, what are you going to do about this mess you are in and this mess you have made? You must work harder to fix yourself and make things right again. 
We’re predisposed to believe all three parts of the lie. We’ve done many bad things (sin), we can’t deny it. We easily feel ashamed for it, if we dare look at ourselves. We would love to make these things right, but we’re also trapped in hopelessness by it – because it’s a cycle that is impossible for us to break on our own. Satan is so pleased with this lie and has found it so effective, that he has placed it at the root of all belief systems – they all spring out like different flavors of the same poison. Even those who have been freed from the cycle by the good news of Jesus, often climb back onto the spinning wheel of the lie and spend much of their time and energy on it – living like they are lost again. 
That is the lie, it’s not the reality. We need the truth! We need reality. Romans 5 gives it to us. 
The standard of perfection (the law) came in to show us how far from perfect we are and to force us to admit it. Hard, but it’s reality. “But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more”. Here, reality violently peels away from the lie. As your sin increased, grace increased even more. This is everything. This is the difference between sin reigning in death and having eternal life through Jesus. 
If you added more dirt, God added that much more detergent and bleach – you’re still clean! If you’re 100% clean, you can’t look down and see dirt anymore! And you can’t try to clean yourself, there’s nothing left to scrub!  
If you went further into debt, God added twice as much money to your account – you’re still rich! If you have an infinite bank account, why stew over that poor purchase? Why go out to try and make minimum wage on your own? Your debts have been paid in full, there’s nobody left to pay!
If you abused and killed another person, Jesus went to death row for you – AND DIED. It’s over, it’s been made right, there’s no point in you going back into prison, sitting down in your cell, and trying to pay for your crime. 
You should be skipping and dancing right now, but I’m afraid that the lie still has a grip on you. “Yes, God’s grace can cover my sins, but I should still feel shame,” you say. It feels like God will be more approving of us if we debase ourselves and live in the shadow. But look back at the three examples above. God did an earthly example of these things for Israel and God’s heart pours out through the prophet in Isaiah 61:7, “Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy.” 
The LAST thing God wants you to do, after rescuing you from the treadmill of slavery to sin and the effort to fix yourself, is for you to climb back on! That doesn’t make him happy, it breaks his heart. Instead, soak in the reality and reject the lie! Stand firm in His everlasting joy and cast off the cruel and pointless habit of shame and of pushing God away until you are “good enough” or “better”. In Christ, he’s already made you perfect. 
Remember Galatians 5:1 
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 

Sent By His Father

 
1 John 4:14 
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 
 
This is one of the simplest verses in the Bible. It has no big words and can be understood by a child on its first reading. There are two people mentioned in this simple verse - a father and his son. The father gave his son a task to complete. He sent him somewhere, to do something. He sent him on a mission. 
As a son, I remember being sent on many tasks for my father.  I grew up in Mexico and sometimes after dinner, I remember being sent by my father to go out the door of our house on a corner, and cross a small street to a “tienda” - a little store. My mission? To buy “Pinguinos” - a pack of two, small, delicious cream-filled, chocolate cupcakes. 
I would buy these and run them back to my dad. I’m proud to say that I was successful in completing my mission every single time I was sent. But that’s because it was an easy task, an easy mission. It didn’t cost my dad anything more than some pocket change, and it didn’t cost me more than a couple minutes I was happy to spend. 
Maybe you remember some tasks that your father sent you on, too. But let’s look at this verse about the Father and his Son and the task in question. The apostle John tells us that he and others, “have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son … to be the Savior of the world.” 
And you thought your chores were bad. What a mission to be sent on! To be “the Savior of the world”! 
Here is what this simple sentence tells us: First, the Father was willing to send his only Son into the world, to die, so that we might live through him (that’s what verse 9 of this chapter says).  
And second, the Son was willing to be sent into the world. From the very beginning, his task - his mission - his Father’s directive - was for him to become the Savior of the world by being the propitiation for our sins (as verse 10 says). The sins of humanity - my sins and your sins - bring divine wrath. Jesus completed his Father’s mission on the cross, where he bore that wrath for our sins. For the sin you committed last night, the one I committed this morning. 
It was the Father’s perfect holiness that required such a mission, and the Son’s perfect holiness that made him capable to complete it. But the problem the Father was solving by sending the Son on his mission was that He was separated from the people that he loved.  He wanted closer relationship with us, and it was this love that compelled the Father to send the Son, and for the Son to complete his miraculous chore. John just keeps repeating it and repeating it in chapter 4; he has to keep trying to say it different ways! You are loved! I am loved! By God of all people! For love is from God, whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. God is love! And he offers his love to the whole world! To us! No discrimination! 
 
As the New Living Translation says it,  
1 John 4:9-10 
God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.  

The Love of Christ Surpasses Knowledge

 
Ephesians 3:18-19 
That you, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 
How do you capture the infinite dimensions of the love of Christ with words? In these verses in Ephesians Paul tries to turn three dimensions into four – here’s how that verse reads in the Nate’s Artistic License Version, “may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to experience the love of Christ that blows your mind.” 
 
The picture here could be of a vast ocean of love being poured into an array of small cups – utterly unable to contain all the knowledge or fullness of God’s love, yet full and overflowing. Or of a parched and dying man arriving at a huge waterfall of pure, cold water.  He doesn’t stress about his inability to drink the whole waterfall, but he enjoys every deep gulp and knows he can drink and drink and the water will not run out! 
 
Sometimes we get used to having an ocean of love and our minds cease to be blown – so stay with me as we look at one dimension of Christ’s love that we don’t always look at. Imagine we are sitting in a small group right now of ten to fifteen people and I ask you to share your most embarrassing moment. What are you going to share with us? As each person shares and it comes around to your turn, you’d weigh the light and trivial stories shared so far and in similar fashion you’d reach for your fifth most embarrassing moment. 
 
But your most embarrassing moment isn’t even what just came to mind, those are funny little stories. To be embarrassed is to be ashamed. So, your most embarrassing moments are actually the things you are most ashamed took place. This is deeper and darker; we don’t share these stories around the campfire and laugh. These are things we would give anything to undo, to erase, to take back. But you can’t. 
 
What if I held out big red button to you and told you that if you pushed it, every single moment of shame from your life would disappear from your life and would transfer to mine? Those bad things would never have happened and you would be completely free of them. Some of you would see this as the chance of a lifetime and would tackle each other on the way up to push it. Others would feel that would be a horrible and unfair thing to do to me! Both feelings would be valid. 
 
We see Jesus in the bible, holding out his nail-pierced hands, with a scar in his side, and he says to you – “’you don’t even have to push it, I already did.” 
 
It is finished. 
 
The founder and perfecter of our faith, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. He despised the shame, just as you despise your shame – but he did it for the joy of taking it away from you, bearing it for you. 
 
At the cross, Christ loved me. I experience that love, I know that love, and when I die, I will really know, really experience the exchange of all my sin, my shame, my guilt, my brokenness completely removed – that is a love that blows my mind.