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"A Reminder of God's Love" — As we commemorate Jesus' death and resurrection, we can be fully confident of his love for us. 4.3 minutes.								ISO

A Reminder of God's Love

Springtime directs our thoughts in a special way toward the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is the season of Easter, the annual commemoration of what the apostle Paul calls “of "first importance" in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4:

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…”

Easter brings us face to face with how deeply God loves us. Even though we humans fall short in being faithful to God, God will never be unfaithful to us.

Though we struggle and stumble, God is always ready to welcome us back.

Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 2:4-10:

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved…. it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

As we commemorate Jesus' death and resurrection, we can be fully confident of his love for us. And never forget that the Father, the Son and Spirit are one God, not three Gods. That means that the Father feels exactly the same way about us as Jesus does. We never need to worry that our sins will keep our heavenly Father from loving us and drawing us back to him, no matter how far we have strayed. God always welcomes his children.

Just as Paul said in the passage we just read, “…we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works…”

God will never give up on us. The Holy Spirit works in our hearts and in our conscience, continually leading us back to God.

In his pastoral letter to Titus, Paul wrote in chapter 2, verses 11-13:

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

In his rich mercy and grace, God both forgives our sinfulness and he heals our sinful nature. He does not just forgive us and then leave us to languish miserably in our sins.

Every year, Easter reminds us that our Savior is a living Savior, resurrected from the dead and ascended to glory. He is not only our advocate and intercessor, but he, with the Father, makes his dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit.

I’m Joseph Tkach, speaking of LIFE.