Corona Devo 963

God is...holy.

God is...love.

God is...just.

God is...Creator.

God is...sovereign.

God is...our friend?  Yes!  

But...how?  It's not a logical/balanced/computable/or even fathomable idea: the God of the universe being friends with us.  ...Saved-but-still-sinful us.  

Don't blame me (or credit me) with the idea---it is God's alone.  Only He could take the unbalanced equation of our sin and His holiness and come out with the solution that He did (His Son).  So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.  ~Romans 5:11

God is...our friend?  Yes! 

There was a time when we didn't know Christ, and (whether we knew it or not), we were helpless without Him.  We did what we wanted, we lived for ourselves....and we were helpless.  

Utterly.

The world said all was good...but when we got quiet/in the stillness/in contemplation...our hearts knew we were not good.  

Remember that contrast?  Even before we knew God or totally understood what that contrast was (self vs. submission-to-God/sinful vs. saved), we knew something wasn't right.  (Or maybe we are caught in that crux today, now.)

But then (When we were utterly helpless) Christ came (at just the right time) and do you know what He did?  He died for us sinners.

He died for me when I was helpless in my sin.  

He died for you when you were helpless in yours.  

It's crazy really.  Unheard of.  No one does that. 

If we think about it-- most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. (8) But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5: 7-8).  (Emphasis mine).  

We know "good" people.  Many of us consider ourselves in that grouping...but to die for someone else?  Even a "good" someone else...or even someone we love?  Die for them?  Unheard of.

But...to die for someone stuck in sin, held captive by their desires, living-for-self, hurting themselves, hurting us...to die for someone like that?  Completely unheard of.  

Unless we have heard of Jesus Christ, and our friend, God.

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.  ~Romans 5:8

God is sovereign--He is over all things, and so he knows the process of all things.  (He created those processes!) And God knows that His pristine holiness demands a cleansing sacrifice on our behalf.  In a miraculous move, God gave His Son Jesus as that sacrifice for us.  

Jesus-as-our-sacrifice did many things, including (1) making us right in God's sight by the blood of Jesus, (2) saving us from God’s condemnation,  (3) restoring our friendship with God, and (4) brought us salvation (Romans 5:9-10).  Each of those areas are spiritually ground-breaking, and none of the joy and privilege of any of those areas should ever "wear off" or be taken for granted.

But verse 11 reminds us and resounds-with the reminder that we can REJOICE in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God (Romans 5:11).  

God is...our friend?  Yes!  

It's crazy really.  Unheard of.  No (god) does that.

Ours does.

Say this out-loud to yourself: "I am a friend of God."

Now believe it, because God said it.

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. (7) Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. (8) But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (9) And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. (10) For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. (11) So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.  ~Romans 5: 6-11

God is...our friend?  Yes!  


Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com

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