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Is there a difference between the thinking of a 20- or 30-something-year-old single male and a 40- or 50-something never-married single male about getting married? I will share some information on that subject in the next article. In the meanwhile, first, view this film clip released by Columbia Pictures in 1955. Then view the conclusion on the “HERS” page. It is quite humorous.
By Justin Coleman
Romans 5:5-8 (NKJV): Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Do you like to ask questions when you read the bible? When did this happen? Where did this happen? What was it like for the people who were there? In what order did these events take place? Let’s take a look at this passage in Romans and ask a very simple question.
Romans tells us that God poured His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Christ died for us when we didn’t deserve it. In the world, its unlikely someone would sacrifice their life to safe someone else, even if that person was exceptionally noble. Jesus demonstrated His love toward us by dying for us when we were His enemies. My question is, what order did these events take place?
Jesus died for our sins first. Then, once we were born again by believing in Him and confessing Him as Lord, then the Holy Spirit came into our heart and filled us with the love of God. So, verse 8 clearly took place, chronologically, before verse 5. You might be thinking, so what, that’s obvious, of course we all know that!
Imagine the situation. Jesus has died for the sins of all mankind. Verse 8 says that it was through Christ dying for us that He demonstrated His love toward us. Other versions translate the word demonstrate as commend, show, or prove. Jesus proved that He loved us. There’s a saying ‘walk the walk’, don’t just ‘talk the talk’. That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t just speak about His love for us. He put His love into action and He proved it with the most loving, powerful, and sacrificial act that could ever take place. The perfect, holy, sinless Son of God sacrificed His life to save all of humanity. Vile, unthankful, sinful, cruel, wicked people who did not care who He was or why He was here. Those are the people (aka all of us) that Jesus died to save. It was an indisputable act of love. An act that proved, beyond any doubt, that He loves each and every one of us.
But that wasn’t enough for God. He didn’t want to just prove His love for us from afar. He didn’t want this act of love to be something that you observed and appreciated from a distance like watching an artist on television. You merely recognizing the grandeur of this sacrificial love is not what God had in mind. He doesn’t want you to only see and appreciate this great act of love. He wants you to experience this love. He wants that great action of love to be alive in your heart every day.
This is where verse 5 comes in. Now that we have accepted Jesus as our savior, the Holy Spirit has come to live inside our hearts and He didn’t come empty handed. He came with the fullness of all of God’s love. He moved into your heart and He filled you with this love. He didn’t just bring a little bit so you could barely make it in life. He brought so much of the love of God into your heart that you will never run out. The more you recognize, appreciate, and experience His love for you, the more there will be in your heart waiting for you.
Ephesians 3:17-19 (NKJV): that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Paul prays that we would be rooted and grounded in God’s love. That we would know the vast magnitude of this love that is far beyond our mental abilities. The result of getting to know this love will fill us with ‘all the fullness of God’. This is the love that is within us. It’s depths are unsearchable, but the more we embrace His love for us, the more we will be filled with all of His goodness. So I encourage you to let your roots sink deep into His love for you. The love of God that He deposited in your heart, is the same love that He demonstrated to you on the cross.
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