“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
This verse might be one of the most wonderful verses in all the Bible. It is packed full with truth of God’s love for us. Let the love of God displayed in this powerful gospel verse wash over you as if you were sitting at the bottom of Niagara Falls. There are two truths from this verse that have the power to transform your heart and life.
God is always, even today, displaying how much he loves us through the cross of Christ.
“God shows his love for us.” This phrase was written in the original language to teach that God is presently and actively showing his love to us even now, in what Christ has already done. So as believers, we are always experiencing present love from a past event. For example, if you fail to keep your word today and you sin, that specific sin that separates you from God has already been covered in Jesus when he took your place when he died on the cross. This means that your sin that you commit today is forgiven because it was already paid for in full in Christ. As a result, you are still God’s child and he did not take his Spirit from you. He is still with you even now.
This is the amazing love that we experience from God. And it is continually given to us. He is pouring out his ever-present love toward us all day, every day, because of what Christ has already done for us! Never stop swimming in this boundless love.
God saw us at our worst, and still loved us and sent Christ to die for us.
“While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God saw every sin we would ever commit, and still loved us and sent Jesus to die in our place. Think about the implication of that truth. Before God ever saved you, he looked all your mistakes, even the ones that you have not even committed yet, and said, “I want you to be my child. I love you.” Furthermore, even if your worst moment is yet to come in life, God is still going to love you just as much then as he does right now. He saw that sin in advance and sent Christ die for it on the cross. He looked at you and said, “I know every horrible thing you will ever do, but I want you to be mine forever.” This is incredible love.
When we rest in this love of God that is given to us every moment of every day in Christ Jesus, God moves in power in our hearts and lives to transform us into the image of Christ.
His love has power to heal our brokenness. His love has the power break our bondage to sin. His love has the power bring hope to our disparity. His love has the power to bring joy in our sorrow. His love has the power to change our selfish hearts into loving, generous hearts.
May we rest in the power of his present and active love that he is continually showing to us each day, because Christ has died for us.