Last week we posted a link to a video of Jon Tyson and the cross in culture. Hopefully you’ve had a chance to check it out. At one point, Tyson said this:
Because of the cross we hear God say, “I loved you when you were my enemy.”
It’s so hard to grasp the magnitude of God’s love for us. In many ways it doesn’t make sense. We try so often to bring everything down to an earthly level so we can understand and grasp ideas or beliefs. But God’s power and love is so transcendent of our current reality that the heavy dosage of love He pours out for us can be hard to swallow.
But if ever we needed actual proof of the love He so constantly professes, we find it in the cross. I love Tyson’s statement. We were enemies of God—separated, cut off, and rebellious. However, knowing His own creation, He knew we couldn’t cross enemy lines and surrender completely without a sacrifice. Out of God’s infinite love for us, even while were still sinners, Christ—God in the flesh—died the most horrifying death on our behalf.
The cross is not only a proclamation of love. It’s also a definition of value and worth. Christ died not only to save us, but because He wanted us for himself. He wanted us to be restored to right relationship with God. He wants us.
Do you ever struggle with feeling wanted? Wondering if someone really cares? Just remember the cross and what it means for you. It’s a violent showcase of God’s desire and love for you in spite of your sin. Though God’s love is so transcendent, He brought it to our level of human understanding with the very real sacrifice of His son on a criminal’s cross.
That is worth boasting about! If ever in doubt of feeling loved or wanted, always look to the cross. What happened there is THE most loving thing ever to be done on your behalf. Boast in the cross, boast in the merciful hand of God, and boast in the fact that if you claim Him as Savior you have new life. All of this done because you are LOVED.
