Corona Devo 1445

Nothing says "love" on Valentine's Day more than chocolate covered strawberries being delivered to your front door...and we had some beauties arrive.  

So special.  So delicious.  So surprising.  So undeserved.  And so expensive.  (Do we have any idea how expensive chocolate covered strawberries are to buy and ship?)

Who does that?  It's the kind of thing you don't do unless you want to.  And you have to want to.  That makes the privilege of receiving them all the more extravagant of a gift, because we certainly didn't deserve them.  

To our Valentine's who sent those chocolate-covered strawberries: you shouldn't have... 

But, I speak for our whole family when I say that, we are so glad that you did.  (Thank you!)

~~~

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  ~John 3:16

All of the same principles apply to God our Heavenly Father.  He sent His Son, Jesus to us.

So special.  So surprising.  So undeserved.  And so expensive.

Although He is the Son of the King of the World, Jesus did not get sent "First Class" to us...far from it.  

Born in a stable and surrounded (that night) by animals and for the rest of his (earthly) life by common, regular people, Jesus came, not as a king, but as one of us, and He was born and raised with much less than most of us. 

Then our Lord who was born-as-a-man for us, went to the cross for our sins.  

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.  ~Isaiah 53:5

He was perfect: unblemished, and without sin.  (He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.  ~I Peter 2:22)  And yet Jesus gave up His life in order to becomes a sacrifice for us...because without Him, we are none of those things (perfect, unblemished, or without sin).  

    None is righteous, no, not one...  ~Romans 3:10

Who does that?  

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.  ~2 Corinthians 5:21

No one does that.  No other "god" or man has ever done that.  

Only One King came down from His throne for us: Jesus Christ.

So special.  So surprising.  So undeserved.  And so expensive.  

Christ paid the ultimate price for us: His life.  Do we have any idea how expensive that sacrifice was for God and Jesus to experience?

• “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”  ~Matthew 26:39

• At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.   ~Matthew 27:45

But, Beloved...God the Father and Christ, His Son would not (could not) have done it unless they really wanted to.

And They wanted to.

• For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  ~John 3:16

• The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  ~2 Peter 3:9

~~~

John 3:16 (For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life)--So expensive.  It's the kind of thing only God could do, and He must have wanted to. 

That makes the privilege of receiving Christ into our hearts and lives all the more extravagant of a gift: because we certainly don't deserve Him.  

To our Lord, who sent His Son to us and for us: You shouldn't have... 

But, (may I humbly speak for all of Your children when I say that), we are so glad that You did.  (Thank you, Lord!)

~~~

Receive the gift of God's love today.      

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.  ~John 15:13  

Emulate God's love today.  

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. (5) It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (6) Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (7) It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  (8) Love never fails.  ~I Corinthians 13:4-8

Share God's love today.  

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. (8) But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  

(9) God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. (10) This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.  

(11) Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. (12) No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.  ~I John 4:7-12

~~~

Nothing says "love" on Valentine's Day more than God's gift of salvation for us.  

So special. So surprising.  So undeserved.  So extravagant.  So expensive. 

God and Jesus shouldn't have...but we're so (eternally) glad that they did.

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com