Easter Sunday is quickly approaching. It’s the time when we think more about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I’d like for all my readers to reflect on the cross as God’s ultimate revelation of love to us.
Let’s think about this whole concept of revelation. Here’s what it means: we would not know God completely unless He chose to reveal Himself to us.
We can know some things about God by simply observing the universe in which we live. Paul talks about this in the Book of Romans:
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
-Romans 1:20
But these general observations (called “general revelation” by theologians) can only take us so far. We need more information to know who God is and what He is like. This is where the Scriptures come in: they teach us about a holy, loving God whose character is nothing like ours.
The apex (high point) of God’s revelation comes in Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on the Cross. The Bible describes it this way:
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
-Romans 5:8
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
-John 15:13
Here is our problem: we often look to the wrong place to “see” God’s love. Sadly, this is true of believers and non-believers alike.
Here’s what I mean–we tend to ask questions like this:
“If God loves me, why did this happen to me?”
“If God loves me, why am I in so much pain?”
“If God loves me, why isn’t my life going the way I want?”
Do you understand the problem? We will always be disappointed if we simply rely on our life circumstances as “proof” of God’s love. It would go something like this:
*I had a good day today. God must love me.
*I’m heartbroken. God must not love me.
*I got a pay raise. God must love me.
*I got stuck in traffic. God must not love me.
It reminds me of the “he loves me, he loves me not” game that children play with flower petals.
Please don’t misunderstand me here–I know that disappointment with God is a very normal human emotion. God understands these feelings, and even allowed them to be recorded in Holy Scripture (the Psalms, for example).
But disappointments in life do not change what Jesus has done on the Cross. Do you want to know how much God loves you? Don’t look at your difficulties. Look instead to the cross! Jesus has already proven His love through his sacrificial death.
You know, that is very true. I am guilty of that too. when good things happen in my life, i can so easily declare “God is good.” but when bad things happen, especially concerning my family, even though I know I have to trust the Lord and believe God has something in store in the end, I still can’t help ask “Why,why?”
Thanks you for this reminder.
it’s a mistake that I have before. sometimes I rely on my emotions and the circumstances that I am having. If I feel down, I feel like I am far from God. If I am in a seemingly impossible situation to overcome, I feel like God is nowhere. But through the help of my Pastors, and further reading of God’s passages, I learned that I should rely on my FAITH. rely on the truth.
God never leave us nor forsake us. these are just tests.
Ephesians 6:12
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Nice article! I love Jesus Christ na guilty ako kasi para satin kaya ginagawa ni Jesus Christ yan. Pero ang laki ng tiwala ko kay Jesus kahit minsan na hindi tayo nag papasalamat sa ginagaw nya para satin pero hindi nya tayo iniwan pag kaylangan natin ng tulong lagi lang sya nanjan hindi man natin sya nakikita pero lagi natin syang kasama kahit saan man tayo pumunta. Thanks Jesus Christ . Thanks for the great post.