No Greater Love

As this Holy Week begins, I cannot help but ponder what kind of love a Man would have to have in order to willingly lay down His life for the sake of those who routinely berate and sin against Him?  He unconditionally loved us before we even existed, knowing full well that we would choose to sin and turn our backs on Him. He knew each step we would take before we took it, and yet, He still chose the nails; He chose to take up the cross of all humanity, to sacrifice His holy and perfect self in order that we would not have to pay the penalty that we full well deserve for the sins we have committed and continue to commit. I cannot begin to fathom this love He has for us, but I do know from the very depths of my soul that there is no greater love than that of which Christ demonstrated on that cross.


As I write this blog I am still baffled by it. Why would He do this for us?  How could He possibly love us after all we do?  The answer is clearly laid before us in John 3:16 which states, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."  His love for us is the only answer, but that does not make it any easier for my human mind to rationalize; we deserved death yet we gained eternity in Heaven with our Creator through the single greatest display of affection in history.  He was beaten, bruised, whipped, and crushed for our transgressions.  It was the only way to ensure our salvation, and Christ took it upon Himself to guarantee us that option if we so choose.


Verse:
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
~Romans 4:25


We are justified through Christ, through His death we are made new and whole in the sight of God.  Through the blood of the Lamb we are offered a fresh start, a clean slate, and a spot in Heaven for eternity along side of our Father.  We did nothing to deserve it.  In actuality, we did everything in our power to jeopardize our chance at salvation, but God's love for us outweighed any debt we owed. There truly is no greater love than this!


I challenge you to take this Easter to remember what Christ went through on our behalf, to truly examine the love that was demonstrated on the cross to ransom our souls.  He paid the price, He died for us, and now we must live for Him; our lives should be an example of the love He has for us, a love that was willing to die for us when we never deserved it.  Live a life worthy of the love He bestows on us each and every day for there is no greater love than His!