Do you know why God died for our sins? There are a lot of reasons why the Lord died for us, but the main reason is simply this: because He loves us. He loves us so much that He died so He can set us free from the darkness of this world. He died to take our sins away, so we do not end up in hell. He died so that we can have life everlasting with Him, and reign forever with Him. But the first and the most important reason that God died for us is because He loves us. John 3:16 tells us,
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
We’ve quoted this verse so often that we’ve gotten used to the very reason Christ died for us. It doesn’t even to make an impression anymore. But it’s still so important to hear it again. It is simply because He loves us. It bears repeating this again and again, and knowing why He died, because I’m afraid so many of us now forget why. He didn’t die just to take Satan’s throne away and set us free from his power. He didn’t die just to take our sins away so we can do whatever we want. Christ died and the God of heaven died because He loves us so much. And that means when someone is so in love with you that He would be willing enough to die for you, it means He wants you to love Him back. You better believe God wants us to love Him back. That was His very first commandment He had given to the children of Israel. He wasn’t shy about it at all. He told them,
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. {Deuteronomy 6:4-5}
When you love someone, your utmost desire is for them to love you back. It would be awful to love someone so much and they don’t love you back in return. But this is where many of us get messed up. We don’t know how to love God back. We go about our own understanding of loving Him back and we totally miss it. We read the scriptures and the laws, and we take off crossing every t and dotting every i. We have our mental checklist down pat of how to be holy and righteous and pleasing before God, based on what we’ve read and heard and thought about God. Apostle Paul saw this problem with the Christians in Galatia. They were gung ho about loving God back but they were totally missing it. Paul tells them,
Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. {Galatians 5:4-5}
You see we don’t earn God’s love, it’s already there before we existed. We don’t try to be holy and righteous on our own, this is what Paul is trying to tell us. We receive it through our hope and faith in Jesus’ love for us. He changes us. He makes us holy and pure through our relationship with Him. It’s not us at all on our own efforts, but through us looking to Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. {Hebrews 12:2} It is and must be through our faith in God’s love for us.
This trying to earn God’s favor and God’s love, and trying to love Him back on our own understanding was a real problem then in Paul’s time. He had to tell another church the church in Ephesus this:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. {Ephesians 2:8-9}
Again, it means we can’t keep looking at our own strength and at our own ability to please God. We have to look to Him by loving Him and knowing Him. It means we spend time seeking after Him. We don’t seek after trying to be holy and righteous. We seek after God. We seek Him. God tells us in Jeremiah how to do this:
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. {Jeremiah 29:13}
We have to come to Him without having to worry about trying to be holy and righteous. We just worry about finding Him. Because if we worry about trying to be holy and righteous, we will come to obstacle after obstacle and reason after reason why we can’t come near Him at all. But if our focus is on Jesus Christ, and touching Him and loving Him with all of our hearts, (whether we feel holy and righteous or not), we will end up receiving the righteousness of God. We will end up holy and righteous and pure. It won’t be our doing, which is exactly how the Lord wants it done. It will be all God’s doing. He gets all glory, not us.
Jesus tells us how to do this. He tells us,
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. {John 15:4-5}
I know this struggle very well. Jesus pointed this out to me not so long ago. He told me that sin is nothing to Him. It means it doesn’t scare Him away from me. It means that He is able to get rid of it and take it away from my life without even having to lift a finger. He said to me, “What is that to me? Love me and I will take care of your sins. Don’t let that stop you. Love me.” It means even when I don’t feel so great about myself before Him, I still come to Him and talk to Him and open my heart to Him. It means when I fall into sin and feel ashamed of myself, I still go to Him and talk to Him and confess my sins and tell Him I love Him. His love never changes. He still loves me when I’m bad as much as when I’m good. Would a loving parent stop loving their child even when they do stupid things? I don’t think so. Why should God do any less who died for us?
This is exactly why He gave His life for me. He wants me to just love Him back. He wants me to focus on who He is, and how wonderful and kind He’s been to me. Not to focus on my sins. Not on my awful failing self. He gave His life for me, because He wants to eliminate anything that gets in the way of me having a relationship with Him. He loves me so much that He’s done away with sin. Sin is not an excuse anymore. Not being holy and perfect is not an excuse anymore. I have no excuse anymore to not love Him back and spend time with Him and be myself with Him. I have no excuse. I simply just need to say to Him, “Jesus I love You, You mean the world to me,” and His presence comes to me and changes me. When I do this again and again and just come to Him with all of my heart and say to Him, “I love You Jesus, You are my life, You are my everything. Cleanse me from all of my unrighteousness and make me pure and holy like You.” His love and forgiveness fills my heart and soul and my whole entire being. His love cleanses me and gives me worth. My hope is in Him and in His love for me, not on myself anymore. Like Apostle Paul states,
“For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.”
It doesn’t mean I don’t stop repenting. Far from it. I continue to repent. I continue to want to live a life holy and pleasing before Him. But every time I sin, every time I fall, and every time I don’t feel so great about myself, I talk to Him anyway. I talk about my desire to be forgiven and to be loved by Him. I don’t run away. I don’t let my sins become an obstacle in my relationship with the Lord. I don’t let my sins become a boulder and a wall between us. I scale over it. I go down the other side and love the Lord anyway. I tell Him I love Him. I tell Him I appreciate Him in my life. I make Him great in my life, not my sins. I don’t let my sins get in the way. I don’t let it stop me. By and by the Lord takes them away. He takes my sins away because He sees my faith in His love for me. He sees I love Him so much that I come to Him anyway, even when I don’t feel so great about myself. He’s there to willingly take them away from me. I let Him know my faults and my sins. I don’t hide them from Him anymore. I let Him know my struggles and my pains. He shares them with me. Then He fills me with hope. He fills me with love. He fills me with His holiness and His righteousness.
This is why He came and died for me, because this is how He wants me to live. This is how He wants me to be: to live and hope and trust in His grace for me, because He loves me.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. {John 3:17}
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. {Matthew 11:28-30}
Prayer
Thank You so much Savior for Your undying love for me. Thank You so much for Your grace that fills me today. I am so lost and so nothing without You Jesus. Thank You so much for You. I love You.
Father, I pray once again for more faith in Your love for me. I need more faith in You Father, in Your great love for me. I need more faith to scale over any obstacle that comes in my relationship with You. I don’t want anything, not even myself or any sin in my life to get in the way of my love for You. I believe in Your love for me. I know You will take my sins away. Just please Savior help me to continue to love You and come to You and talk to You no matter how I feel and no matter what happens. Help me to continue to believe in Your grace upon my life. I pray these things Father, in Your most wonderful and precious name, Jesus. Thank You, Father. Amen.
