Undeserved part 5
It's not about what we deserve, because it's not about what we did. It's about what JESUS did, both for us and as us! And that's why it's called REST. Jesus did the work. And we get to enjoy the fruit of His labor. The fruit of the Spirit. Love. Jesus said the greatest love a man can have is to lay his life down for his friends. And then He went to the cross and did that very thing. He didn't just TELL us about love, He SHOWED us love. He SHOWED us the Father. He SHOWED us who we really are. By shining the light of the world. The same light that we are. We really don't seem to understand that in the beginning we were made in the image of God. And then on the cross we were conformed into the image of His Son. As He is, so are we in this world. Because He lives in us and we live in Him. There is no separation. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The straight and narrow way to the Father that can only be walked by His Son. The truth about God... and the truth about us. And the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life that IS a life full of love! To live is to love and to love is to live. Those two things aren't just connected... they are the same thing! So to say we have to earn God's love is like saying we have to earn our lives. Our right to live. And that's crazy. We didn't choose to be born. We were given that gift and had absolutely nothing to do with it. And before the cross we didn't choose to die either. Adam--as humanity's representative--made that choice. We didn't have anything to do with it. Then, at the cross, we didn't choose to be a part of what Jesus did, either. He was lifted up from the earth and He drew all men unto Himself. See, we have this idea of free will (and to some degree we do have free will, even though most of the time it seems like we don't have much choice in the matter when we do things), but Adam got us into trouble and Jesus got us out of it. That's the gospel in a nutshell. And the most important thing to realize is that it had nothing to do with anything we did, or anything we could do. It had everything to do with who we are, and who we are (or were) in. We WERE in Adam. Now we are in Christ. We didn't deserve God's mercy and grace. But He gave it to us anyway, because He loves us. Because He wants what's best for us. That's why He gave what's best TO us. He gave us something--love--to believe in. He gave HIMSELF to us. So that we might believe. So that we might live. It's not about earning your bread by the sweat of your brow. It's about Jesus sweating blood to redeem us from the curse. It's about the unforced rhythms of grace teaching us how to truly live. Teaching us how to love by teaching us how God loves us! That's what this life is all about. Loving each other as our heavenly Father loves us. And deserve has absolutely nothing to do with it!