THAT’S INCREDIBLE!
See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
1 John 3:1
When I was in college, there was a popular TV show on the air called That’s Incredible! The program featured unusual displays of talent and courage designed to amaze the audience. The stunts performed on That’s Incredible! truly were astounding. (I would not have believed a guy could catch a bullet in his mouth had I not seen it firsthand on the show.)
In the Christian life, God wants us to see something that is so amazing, fantastic, and seemingly too good to be true—but it is true! What is this amazing thing? His great love for you and me! It is literally out of this world (“how great” means “from what country?”). It is an unfathomable love that surpasses comprehension. As Corrie ten Boom once said, “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.”
Sadly, many of us have trouble truly accepting God’s great love for us. We look at the inconsistencies in our lives, the sins in our past—and the ones we currently struggle with—and think there is no way God could love me. Some of you reading this might be thinking, God can’t love me because I had an abortion … because I committed adultery … because I am hooked on drugs/alcohol … because I have an anger problem … because I struggle with pornography … because I am so unworthy. How could a holy God want to have anything to do with a wretch like me?
GOD’S LOVE
There are some critical things to know about God’s love:
1. God’s love is so great that it paid the highest price to redeem you. What did God give for the salvation of sinners? Not gold or silver, lands or seas. He gave His most precious treasure in the universe—His own dear Son. Jesus shed His precious, royal blood to purchase your salvation.
2. God’s love is so great that it has nothing to do with anything in you. God doesn’t love you because you avoid the grosser sins of the flesh. He doesn’t love you if you go to church, put some money in the offering plate, have a quiet time, and are sweet to family, friends, and strangers. God loves you and me in spite of our sinful past and current struggles. God proved His love for us by sending Jesus to die for us while we were yet sinners (see Romans 5:8). When we were in our deepest, darkest state of separation and rebellion, the Lord still loved us and died for us on the cross—in order to forgive us and set us free!
3. God’s love is so great that there is nothing you can do to make God love you any more, and nothing you can do to make God love you any less. He has set His love upon you by His divine choice (see Deuteronomy 7:7-8).
4. God’s love is so great that when you receive it through repentance and faith, you become His very own son/daughter. He adopts you into His family! Could there be a greater blessing than to become a blood-bought child of God who will spend eternity with the Father in heaven? Answer: no!
Take some time right now and “see how great a love the Father has bestowed on you.” Thank God for His great love that is totally undeserved and will not let you go! And in your struggle with sin, remember that the One who loves you so much has commands for you to keep, commands that are for your good. When you go His way, you are blessed. When you go your way, you end up at the pigsty.
Jesus said, “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love” (John 15:9). May we believe and abide in His love!
Love,
Pastor Jeff Schreve,
From His Heart Ministries
