Love of the Father

The love of God the Father can be confusing at times.  Consider Jesus comment on God’s love from Matthew 5.  He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  God, how is that fair?  How do evil dictators who would bomb their own people get to enjoy the same fresh air and sunlight that I have?  Very quickly we want justice.  God is right there with us.  He wants justice too.  Remember while we might be satisfied with just ok, God wants it perfect.  Later in this same chapter he writes, Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.  Part of why we get enraged at evil dictators is because their behavior turns our stomachs.  The other reason is that when I compare myself to Chairman Mao I look really good.  I might even look perfect.  God reminds me that I’m not – all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.

He writes in Romans 12:19, Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.While it might even be a happy thought to think what God might do to Mao, God has every right to do the same to us.  And he promises that he will.  When we stand before God on the Last Day or the Day of our death, whichever comes first, is it a happy thought that God would recount every one of your sins, or in the case of our text, your lack of good?  While you may not be as bad a Chairman Mao, you’re not as good as your heavenly Father either.  So God says to you, It is mine to avenge; I will repay.  Hell is real.  God created it not just for people like Mao, but for sinners like us.

That’s not fair, you say?  No, God treating us as our sins deserve is fair.  What God did to Jesus in our place; that’s not fair!  It’s not fair that Jesus, was sinless in every way, but took my sins on his back.  It’s not fair that the only one who never earned death had to die for me.  It’s not fair that Jesus suffered hell, while I will one day enjoy heaven.  But I’m thankful that God wasn’t fair with me.  I know that he loves me because of Jesus.  That’s the love of the Father.  Jesus tells me how I can act like his Son.

Want to hear more ways that you can hear the love of the Father?  Watch this Sunday’s message taken from Matthew 5.