God is love! This is the basic and prominent feature of His character and it is reflected in His will. Two aspects of His love can be readily seen in the way we understand the will of God from this portion of scripture. Firstly, God does not desire anyone to remain unsaved. This means that God’s choice is for every human being to inherit eternal life and undying joy. To that end He has made provision through the atoning death of Jesus the Messiah on the cross of Calvary, for just such salvation to be made available to everyone, without preference or restriction. The great theme of God’s love can be found summarised in one verse, in John 3:16. Here we read that ‘God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son’ so that without leaving anyone out, ‘whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life’! We can set aside any notion of partiality or preferential treatment with God. When it comes to salvation, God who is no respecter of persons, places no difference between one or another, and will have all men to be saved! Secondly, we see God’s love identified in scripture from the fact that while He wills for all humanity to be saved, He does NOT enforce His will upon all humanity to be saved! God loves us enough to allow each of us to decide for ourselves whether we will accept the extended hand He offers in eternal salvation, or whether we will reject it! This amplifies the magnificence and perfection of God’s love! He will not impose His will upon us as humans, though He could, and will not force on us what His will is, even though it is the best possible thing we could do for ourselves! Such love surpasses all we know in the world and in the manner and workings of human behaviour. This is divine kind of love! It is a love we should learn to imitate and make ours in our dealings one with another. It is also the reason why so many, not understanding, seeing or accepting the love that God gives, will inevitably end up in a place of eternal torment and suffering. Let us be clear, God is love, but He is also Holy and Just! He is not willing that any should perish or die, but when a man makes that choice for himself, then provision has been made for that choice also! The notion that a person can do what they like, live as they please, sin and offend in any and all aspect of godliness, and yet still ‘go to heaven’ when they die, is simply wishful thinking and pie-in-the-sky belief! God, who IS love, has made provision so that no one has to die, but when we turn our backs on His love grace and gift of eternal life, we reap what we choose for ourselves - and the only alternative to eternal life, is eternal death!
http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion
No comments:
Post a Comment