Amazing Love
by David Emery

“God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.”  1 John 4:9-11

No matter which denomination you follow, Lent is always a solemn time.  It is probably the most somber season of the Christian year, a time when we prepare for the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ, the culmination of His ministry.  At Christmas, we see Jesus most often as a cherubic baby when we celebrate His birth.  And in the secular world, Easter generally celebrates the rebirth that comes with the spring.  

Easter for us means forgiveness of our sins.  It is easy to forget how profound this is, but Christmas would be meaningless without Easter.  Jesus’ suffering is something of which we cannot even conceive.  He was beaten, lashed and ridiculed, and then killed in the most terrible way imaginable.  Jesus who was completely innocent of all wrongdoing, bore the full force of God’s wrath and judgment for every sin we have ever committed.  

When we’re sharing the Word of God, this is not something we usually like to talk about.  We like to say we’re forgiven, and we like to say God loves us, but this love isn’t always pretty, and it’s not something we can leave out when we share God’s Word.

As we recognize the Lenten season in our own way, whether by giving up a worldly pleasure, observing Stations of the Cross, or what have you, may we always be mindful of the reason we do this.  After He showed us such love, which we could never deserve, we can do no less than love each other in the same way.  And as terrible as Jesus’ punishment was, may we never forget to rejoice, because in His suffering lies our hope for redemption.

And it is all a GIFT – a free and incredible gift to us from God!

Dear God, thanks for the incredible gift of Jesus!  Help me never to take that gift for granted.  During this Lenten season, help me to be captured more completely by the depths of Your love for me and for all people – a love so deep that you were willing to take all the sins of the world, including mine, and place them on Your Son, who never once sinned.  And as You fill me anew with the awe and wonder of this gift, help me to share it with others.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.