“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” – Romans 5:8-11
The sermon from last Sunday was a challenging, yet great reminder to not retaliate against and hate our enemies, but rather to love our enemies. I know for me it’s easy to not hate my enemies, but the active part of going the extra mile to love my enemies – no thanks, I’d rather not. Anyone else with me on that one? I’m just fine with keeping my enemies at arms length, but I really don’t enjoy bringing them close into my life through love.
That’s why Romans 5 is such a good reminder for us. We were God’s enemies. We were hostile towards him Colossians 1:21 tells us. And we had taken no steps towards reconciliation and yet he actively loved us through his life, death, and resurrection.
What if God treated me the way I would prefer to treat those I don’t particularly like? What if he just chose not to hate me, to keep me at arms length? I don’t think I would see Christ dying for me if God acted the way I would prefer to. What an amazing love the Father has for us?! While we were still sinners, that’s when Christ died for us. That’s an amazing love toward enemies, towards you and I, and a love that Jesus asks us to demonstrate to others around us.
I’ve included here an amazing video of one man’s story demonstrating where he failed but Christ didn’t.
Prayer this week: that we would be reminded that we were God’s enemies, and then be overwhelmed that while we were still enemies, God demonstrated his love for us through Christ.
I love you all. Press on!
