Undeserved part 2
I've heard it said that mercy is NOT getting what you deserve, and grace is getting what you DON'T deserve. And those are two of the three things (which ain't bad at all) found in 2 John 1:3, "Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love." And make sure you catch the part about "from God the Father." And the part about "in truth and love." I guess what I'm trying to say is, when we're talking about love (talking about God) we need to make sure our focus is in the right place. Not self-centered, but God-centered. Love-centered. People-centered. Because that's HOW we love God... we love people. Jesus said whatever you do unto the least of them you do unto Him. God lives in people. So in order to interact with God we have to interact with people. We obey the New Commandment by loving others as Jesus loves us. By receiving and releasing the love of God. The love that IS God. And since grace, mercy, and peace was given to us free of charge--the GIFT of God is eternal life--we can give these things to each other free of charge. We don't have to judge by appearance and try to make sure people "get what they deserve." And what a good thing that is. Because according to Romans 3:23, "...all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." We were all in the same boat. Sinners by our actions, and our very nature. Adam stood as representitive of the whole human race and sinned. He didn't believe what God said. He believed the lie that the serpent whispered into Eve's ear. And even though WE didn't have anything to do with that... we weren't even born yet... we got the consequences of Adam's actions. We didn't deserve it. But it happened anyway. Luckily that wasn't the end of the story. Because in the same way that we didn't deserve what Adam brought down on us, we didn't deserve what Jesus gave us. Romans 5:18-19 in the MSG bible says it like this, "Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right." So it was NEVER about US. Never about what WE did. It was always about who was representing us. Who we were IN. Before the cross we were in Adam. And that corruptible seed could only produce itself. More death and corruption. But on this side of the cross we are in Jesus. Because Jesus is in us. He is the incorruptible seed. He conformed us to His image. Drew us into Himself. Got rid of the separation and equipped and empowerd us to live His live by giving us His life, and by living HIs life in us, and through us, and as us! Deserve's got nothing to do with it. It's not about what you do. It's about who you are. And who you are... is Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. You are loved, and you are love!