An EXTREME act of love

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. (Romans 3:23-24)

All really doesn't mean there are any exclusions - it means ALL have sinned, no one is exempt. That may be hard for some to palette, but it is an inescapable fact. God set a standard - we fall short of it each and every time we attempt to even approach it, so we needed his Son to do it for us. Grace has been and is still being extended to all who would trust him for this great gift of redemption. Redemption is a big word that really means we are made right with a holy God by trusting in the finished work of Jesus. He bridged the gap between our imperfection and God's perfect holiness. We are able to come boldly into his presence now because we have received his grace. The standard was met in Christ - we just need to meet Christ in order to receive grace! It might be hard to believe but this unmerited favor we receive from God is a manifestation of his love toward the unworthiness in each of us. He doesn't 'discount' us because of our unworthiness but rather makes a way for us to be part of his glorious family.

Too many times, we 'discount' our need for a Savior. We justify ourselves by saying we 'aren't all that bad', that we 'do good things', and we aren't 'all that unkind' to others. The truth is that ALL have fallen short - the target may be hit some of the time, but we aren't hitting the bullseye! We need grace in order to do that. The enemy of our soul is Satan, and he has done all he can from the very beginning of time to convince us that 'not all that bad' is really okay. The fact of the matter is that it is ALL or nothing with God. We are ALL the way a sinner, or we are ALL the way a redeemed (made holy through Christ) child in his family. The Greek word for 'redeemed' is 'apoluo' - meaning to experience a release effected by the payment of a ransom. It means to be set free - because sin has held us bound for way too long! The payment was Christ's life, death, burial and resurrection. The EXTREME act of love that would go to that extent in order to bring us freedom from our sinfulness shouldn't ever be taken for granted.

Here is the crux of it - we ALL have a sin nature. We ALL have absolutely no way of approaching the holiness of God on our own. Sin cannot abide with holiness. We ALL need a Savior. We ALL need to experience the EXTREME love of God and the only way to do that is through Christ Jesus. Just sayin!