One time I was writing a song and was having tremendous difficulty with finding words for the chorus. The name of the song is, The Love of God. Everything I used seemed totally inadequate to describe God’s love for us. One would think that writing a chorus line about the love of God would not be such a difficult project; however, if you reflect on it, finding one phrase that sums up the love of God in one chorus line seems all but insurmountable.
This project was driving me batty and I even asked friends including some very good song writers for suggestions. No one could rise to the task. I had some great chord progressions and the song was pleasing to hear with just my solo acoustic guitar. I had some good lyrics that I would sing, but when I got to the point of singing the chorus, without words for it, I could do nothing but hum along through the chord progression.
After prolonged thought and deliberation, I did find the right words to describe the love of God. The chorus line I came up with is, “Jesus is the love of God!” I felt it was perfect and really nothing more needed to be said. Admittedly someone would necessarily need to know about God’s love for us as demonstrated by the tremendous sacrifice on the cross of His only Son, Jesus Christ, to receive the full impact. He who was as innocent as a new born lamb willingly took the brutal horrific punishment for our sins in order that we may spend eternity with Him. The Bible plainly states that no one has greater love for a friend than to lay down his life for him and that is what Jesus did for you and for me. It is God’s Amazing Grace derived from His love for us that saves us from sin through Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, my song is no match for songs like Amazing Grace and probably will not be heard by anyone aside from me, but it was rewarding to spend time writing it and pondering the love of God for hundreds of hours over many weeks. I still enjoy playing and even singing this song with my pitiful voice that sounds like I’m gargling rocks. I’m convinced that the point is not my musical accomplishment or lack thereof but is to recognize the sacrifice Jesus made for a wretch like me.
According to the Bible, following Jesus is the only way to atone for our sins against God and satisfy His perfect laws.
Why?
An incorruptible and Holy Judge who rules all of creation must punish sin, (breaking the law), or He would lose all credibility. Our perfect God stated that sin is so repugnant to His holiness that the penalty for it is death and He cannot lie, nor can He turn a blind eye to it. Sacrificing lambs, doves, and bulls to atone for sin was attempted in the Old Testament but was insufficient. So was the impossible task with our sinful natures of just trying to be good enough on our own and NEVER sin.
We can be assured that not one sin will be overlooked by God during judgment; all sin will be punished, and the Bible tells us that punishment is death, (spiritual death or eternal separation from God). Yes, that is indeed harsh, but there is a way to avoid it.
Praise the Lord He found a way in which we could be reconciled to Him through the sacrifice of His only Son Jesus Christ, who is perfect and was sinless and thus an acceptable righteous atonement. It is through Christ’s blood which completely covers and atones for our sins. He loves us so much that He took our punishment and His atoning grace derived from it is free for whomever asks for it. All we need to do is acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God who lived, died on a cross for our sins, and rose again in three days; ask His forgiveness; repent, (or turn away), from our former sinner’s lifestyle; and follow Jesus and His commands as best we know how.
Yes, we sinners can and will escape eternal death, damnation, and separation from God for eternity and we can be assured that we will be welcomed into paradise where there will be no more sin, death, or tears.
Jesus is the love of God!
John 15:15
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.