I John 3:4 ESV
Deuteronomy 9:7 ESV
Joshua 1:18 ESV
Genesis 1:27 ESV
Psalm 86:5 ESV
Psalm 103:8-10 ESV
Psalm 34:8 ESV
Romans 5:8 ESV
I John 4:7-8 ESV
Psalm 103:11-12 ESV
I John 4:10 ESV
As we continue to explore love, we will look today at God’s Steadfast Love. As we begin, we ask how personally involved is God with us. For example, what happens to God when we sin?
Oxford defines sin as an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law.
Merriam-Webster says it’s an offense against religious or moral law. They add that it’s a serious shortcoming.
In scripture we are told in I John 3:4 that “everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness, sin is lawlessness.
Deuteronomy 9:7 tells us to “remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.”
Joshua 1:18 says, “Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”
The Hebrew word for sin is ‘chata’ and it means to miss the goal of God’s initial intention. In Genesis 1:27 man was created in the image of God, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
Sin in scripture is a transgression or a failure to live up to divine law. In addition to sin, scripture also tells us about redemption. God made a way for us to be forgiven.
In a prayer of David, Psalm 86:5 tells us, “For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.”
My looming question has always been how can God continue to forgive us?
That’s because God is good. All the time.
Both Old and New Testament scripture tells us God is merciful and good.
In Psalm 103:8-10 we are told, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.”
Psalm 34:8 says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”
In the New Testament Paul wrote in Romans 5:8, “God shows his love for us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.”
God is love. I John 4:7-8 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
God is steadfast.
Oxford Languages defines steadfast as “resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.”
When we are not steadfast God feels our wavering.
When a partner who has made a promise to be faithful and that partner is unfaithful, God not only sees it but God feels it.
When we lie God sees and feels it.
Yet, when we go to God and seek forgiveness. It is given.
David tells us in Psalm 103:11-12, that as far as the east is from the west (which never meet), God removes our sin. “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
Because of God’s great love for us He made a way for us to be forever redeemed. I John 4:10 says, “in this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
That’s now much God loved us.
That’s exactly just how much God loves you.
When I was younger a saying was circulated that told us, “if you’d have been the only one, Christ would have died for you.” In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, “When Christ died, He died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only man in the world.”
I’m reiterating that today.
If you had been the only one, Jesus would have died for you.
Because of His steadfast love, Jesus died for you.
That’s how much God loves you.
God loves YOU.
Spiritual Practice: Receive God’s love
Tell God you receive His love.
In God, Deborah
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