The Love of God!

"Never did his love begin, and never can it cease. It is from eternity, and shall be to eternity."

- C H Spurgeon

Dear Reader,

Today I would like to share with you one of the most awesome things God has shown me lately through His Holy Word. I want to share on the love of God, a love that is perfect, pure, unconditional, and faithful. As Christian one of the hardest things you will ever have to do is to look into the mirror of God's Word and see your sin as it truly is, and believe God loves you as much as He says He does. That is a good thing but a hard thing. To fully grasp this love of God, lets start with some verses you may not expect to hear when talking about the love of God. 

Exo 3:14  God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM."

When Moses asked God, "who are You?" God said "I AM WHO I AM". It's like if an alien came down and asked you who you are, you could say "I am like him or, in a sense like her, I am like the rest of everyone on this planet, but when God is asked this, He says "I AM THAT I AM", for there is nothing and no one for Him to compare to, He is who He is, He is GOD! He is not like you, and He is most certainly not like me, thank goodness. He's not just a large version of us. Again, He is GOD! 

God's love is the same way, nothing can describe or compare to it. We can not even begin to measure His love, describe it is some way that is worthy, or must less show the kind of love God has shown us. Jesus Christ is the only man who can show this kind of love for He is both God and man and He is perfect. And the one event that shows love in all its fullness, perfection, and beauty is the cross and what Jesus did at Calvary. Our love as humans, that is for example a fathers love for his son, is like hatred compared to God's love for His Son, and so great is God's love for His people, that He would

sacrifice His ONLY Son for our sinful undeserving souls.

Now, I would like to take a look at Psalm 7:11-13

God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day.  (12)  If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready.  (13)  He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts.

I know what you are thinking right now, "this verse doesn't have anything to do with love, so why do I bring it up when talking about the love of God?" 

The love of God is perfectly displayed in all its glory on the cross of Calvary. Where Christ, God's only Son, took upon Himself the full wrath of God, that was due you, because of your wickedness. God is angry at sin, He is wrath filled because of sin, and if we can understand God's holy hatred toward sin, and that we deserve nothing but Hell for eternity, than His LOVE is all the more beautiful, and glorious. Take this analogy for example, during the day you look up, where did all the stars go? Did someone remove them? No! They are there, we you just can't see them. But when the night grows black as pitch, the stars come out in all their glory. The more you see your sin and how dark your depravity is, the more gloriously revealed is the love of God the Father toward you. 

The darker the night the more brilliantly you can see the light. What you must understand before you can comprehend the magnitude of the love of God, is your own sin. We are not just lost sheep looking for God, we are not deserving of what He has done. As Romans 3:11 says, "There is NONE who seek after God." Unless you and I understand what we were, sinners, enemies of God, under judgment, deserving death, Hell, and condemnation, unless we believe all that, the magnitude of the love of God is all together lost!

So there is a sense that when we understand the darkness of our own heart and what we actually deserve before God, then we can begin to rejoice and appreciate the love of God. This is why people who were saved out of a life of drunkenness, murder, sexual immorality, drugs etc., have such a zeal, they know what they were.

"The deeper and darker the picture is painted, with regard to our moral failings, the greater and more intensely is the glory of God revealed." -Paul Washer

God is love! But He loves us because of Him, and inspite of us. You are loved because God is love, not because of your performance. Some people serve God so He will love them, this is pointless and wrong. On the other hand others serve God because He loves them, and they love God. We love Him because He first loved us and gave Himself up for us, and if we love Him, we will keep His commandments.

Romans 5:6-9 is, I believe, one of the greatest pictures of God's love for us in all of Scripture, yes even more than John 3:16, cause these verses show how undeserving of such a love we are, yet freely given by God.

Rom 5:6-9  For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  (7)  For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.  (8)  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  (9)  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 

It starts out in verse 6, "while we were still helpless." In the Greek that word "helpless" can also be translated as "sick" or even "unimpressive", there was nothing impressive about us, our malady of sin dooming our souls to Hell. But, the best part, "in the right time" or "opportune time", CHRIST, the Son God, the Holy One, the Pure Spotless Lamb of God, DIED for us the "ungodly".

Now, I don't have a son, but I know that I wouldn't sacrifice my son for a wicked person, or even for you.  Not many would die for a righteous man, and very few would even dare to die for a good man. Thank God, He is not like me or like you! But verse 8 sums the love of God up in one verse. But God, this little word "but" is such a beautiful word, that is often over looked! BUT GOD, the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Holy One who will judge the world in righteousness, demonstrated His love. It was like God said, "Let me show you how much I love you. Despite your wickedness and depravity, I will send my only Son, Jesus Christ to die for you. 

"Christ did not die to make his Father loving, but because his Father is loving: the atoning blood is the outflow of the very heart of God toward us." C H Spurgeon

Now verse 9 is so important cause it shows us what and how a we are actually saved from by this love. God being just, can't justify us from His wrath, a payment must be made to satisfy God's wrath and justice. Look at the first three words of verse nine, "much more then", Paul is say basically "because of verse eight, we have verse nine. Christ died for us while we were yet sinners and through His death we are justified, and shall be saved from the wrath of God. This is so important, it is the central doctrine of justification, without it we can not be saved. 

"Jesus must have found the cause of His love in His own heart, He could not have found it in us, for it is not there." -C H Spurgeon

Now verse 10 I saved until now because it, well you will see why.

Rom 5:10  "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."

This verse, simply sums up everything I just said, but it is such a beautiful thought, while we were enemies we were reconciled to God, to be made right with God, through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. And we shall be saved by His life, for Christ did not remain dead. No! He rose again, and is coming back to take His Beloved to glory, and to cast everyone who rejects this love into eternal hell.

If you are not saved, you have just heard the good news of the gospel, now you must repent and believe the gospel, and put you faith in Jesus Christ, cry out to God to save you. No one has ever come to God seeking salvation that God has not saved.

If God put us in the coolest part of hell it would be more than we would deserve, if He would only make us angels it would be more than we deserve, but He makes us sons and daughters. The worst sin you can commit is to break the greatest commandment God gave, "love the Lord you God with all your heart, soul and strength. How can we keep this? Because He first loved us.

Oh, what love! Christian, I would plead with you please don't belittle such love. Don't minimize it as many do with ideas that God's love for us is a little romantic love or a love like He's your best pal, it is so much greater than these trite forms of love. Study the love of God as He displays it in Scripture and you will find a much more beautiful love than anything you ever imagined or thought it was like.

If you Christian, doubt God's love, it is wrong, you're doubting His character, you say He is not who He says He is, or He hasn't done what He says He's done. God has never given you any reason to doubt His love. A true Christian when seeing the love of God, wants to give more of themselves to God, to growing in holiness and to grow in their love for God. The non-Christian will hear of the love of God and continue living in their sins, relying on grace, without repentance and faith, to save them.

Now I want to leave you with this last thought. If God loved you at your darkest, ugliest moment in you life, how much does He love you now, through the reconciliation of the blood of His Son?

Thanks you for reading, and may God shed abroad His love in your heart. God Bless! 

For His Glory!

Jordan Bednar

Its all about Missions!

Dear follower of our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ

I would like to challenge you today, so let's start with scripture!

Mark 16:15 ....... Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation! (NASB)

Every christian is under the command of the great commission, all christians are called to missions by the great commission, and all are to be equally dedicated and committed to the great commission. 

That said lets look at this word "world" is interpreted not only as the "earth" this planet, but it also includes its inhabitants, in other words people, all people! You don't necessarily have to go over seas to be involved in missions, there are opportunities EVERYWHERE to preach the gospel, so don't tell me you aren't called to the mission field, cause if you are not called to the mission field you are not a child of God!

Simply put missions has to different manifestations. And I will use an illustration from Paul Washer that helped me understand this more clearly.

"You are either called to go down into the well, or you are called to hold the rope for those who go down."

So let me ask you, which one are you doing, not which one is you church doing, but which one are you as an individual or family doing? 

Now if you are sitting on you computer reading in your hometown drinking you morning cup of coffee, your not the one going down into the well, so look at your hands, where are your scares, cause I assure you if you hold a rope long enough you will have scares. What has it cost you to hold the rope, what have you given up? What are you personally doing to hold the rope for those who have gone down, are you praying, are you giving?

Christian, Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and mind..... Matt 22:37 (NASB)  and He also said in John 14:15  "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." 

Not if I am not mistaken the great commission was not just a suggestion, it was a command "GO" ! We do this because we love men and we don't want them to go to hell, but that has to be second to doing this because we love God and seek to bring Him glory and to make His name GREAT among the gentiles! Don't try to fulfill the great commission only out of love for men, God loves cattle more than we love men, do it because you LOVE HIM and because He is worthy! 

There is such a joy and honor to be apart of advancing the Kingdom of God, let us not waist the time so graciously give to us chasing after worldly passions and lusts. IS HE NOT WORTHY TO HAVE US GIVE OUR ALL? What are you living for, are you living worthy of the calling with which you are called? Give your life to the One who gave you life, and saved you from eternal death! We are going to have to answer to God for how we are lived our lives for Him, and how we kept His commandments! Can you truly say you did all you could? God did not send His Son to become man and suffer under the full wrath of God to save us from our wretched sinful nature, so we could just sit on our hands in our little christian bubble, WE MUST GET INVOLVED! 

Now let me make one thing really clear, so if your think "well I support missionaries, I have done my part." Yes, you have done your part, half of it! If you are living working in your hometown, working a job, supporting missionaries in foreign field, you can not think you work is done, what about the mission field around you? What about the wretched sinners in your town! Yes, they have as much a need for Christ as the bush people in Africa, they are all just as lost and headed for Hell!

In closing:

I am not being hard for any other reason than, this is a passion God has placed on my heart, and we see in scripture this is what is on His heart! I never get it when people say, lets pray for our mission trip and see what God's heart is for it. Read your Bible! We know what His heart is, to see the light and love of the gospel of His Son Jesus Christ preached to all the world. So christian, are you going to keep His commandments?

-Your Brother in Christ,

Jordan

The Sufficiency of Scripture

I would like to share with you about the sufficiency of scripture. So let me pose a question, "Is the Word of God sufficient for us to learn what God would require of us morally and to fulfill the work He has called us to do?
Well let's see what God says about His Word.
2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
2Ti 3:17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (NASB)

Ok, so "all scripture is inspired by God", this word "inspired" in the Greek is theopneustos and means "divinely breathed" or "God-breathed". God told each author of each book of the Bible the exact words to write not just concepts to write about. I will touch more on these verses in 2 Timothy 3 a little later, but for now lets look at Psalm 19:7,
Psa 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
(NASB)
The word "law" in this verse is referring to the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch. The law is "perfect" meaning: entire (literally, figuratively or morally); also (as noun) integrity, truth: - without blemish, complete, full, perfect, sincerely (-ity), sound, without spot, undefiled, upright (-ly), whole.
So the entire Word of God from Genesis to Revelation, is God-breathed, complete, without blemish, full, truth!

Now lets turn to Psalm 119:1.
Psa 119:1 How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the LORD.
There are many other scriptures that talk about the sufficiency of the Bible. But I am just going to stick with these for now.
To be morally perfect in the sight of God what must we do in addition to what God has already commanded us in scripture? Nothing! Nothing at all! If we simply keep the word of scripture we will be "blameless" and will be doing "every good work" that God expects of us. Of course we will never perfectly obey all scripture all the time in this life. But there is no need for us to look anywhere else be it, Christian literature, self help books, church history, or man's feeable attempts to bring forth truth, other than what is already laid out for us in the Bible, to find what God requires of us, or how to raise a family, start a relationship, lead a church, be a good husband, or a virtuous wife. It is all there laid out for us, if we would only open the Bible, and study it, oh the abundance of truth that litters each page and that God is so eager for us to just pour over and know.
For years as a Christian, I neglected the reading/study of the scripture, and tried to rely on other teachers and preachers to guide me in my walk with God, when the very Word of God was in front of me the whole time. Why are our Christian book stores littered with books to drive our life with purpose, to find our best life now, when we have the Bible, the actual WORD OF GOD, telling us that all scripture is adequate for equipping a man of God for every good work. And the Word of God never tells us to seek for our best life now, true life is found in Jesus Christ. Until you find something worth dying for, you are not really living. As Christian we have found that something, it is the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I beg you Christian, read your Bible, meditate on the Words, ask God to make the Bible come alive in your life and I will guarantee that if you truly do, He truly will. The Bible is the primary way God speaks to us, and oh, how he longs to speak to us!
Your brother in the faith,
Jordan Bednar