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God’s love is over-the-top!  It just is. If you think about what He did for us…it’s hard to wrap our minds around it.  But try to.  While we were out there doing our own thing, God sent His One and Only Son to die on the cross for us.  We had nothing to offer Him.  We did not deserve His sacrifice.  And yet, He did it.

^“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:5-10

Before I came to Christ, I was trying to straighten myself out…clean myself up.  I don’t know what I was thinking.  Maybe I thought I could be good enough and then He would love me.  Maybe then, I would be worth loving.  Thing is, it was, and it still is, completely unnecessary!

While we were still sinners

God did not wait for me to get right before He loved me.  Not once has He asked anyone to clean themselves up before He loved them.  He never said, “Girl, get your act together and then I might shower you with my love.”  No! His word tells us that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.

That’s right!  We are out doing that thing…you know the one that makes you cringe and you don’t want anyone to know about…yeah, that one.  Well, He knows.  Yes, God knows and still, He sent His Son to make the atoning sacrifice necessary for you to be in a relationship with Him.

He simply loves you that much

Let me say this another way.  You are smack dab in the middle of your stupid stuff and Christ laid His life down to save you. You don’t deserve it.  There is nothing you can do to deserve that kind of love.  You have nothing He needs.  Nothing!  He doesn’t need you.  God is complete in and of Himself.  But, He wants you, which is so much better.  He just wants to be in a relationship with you. Because, He simply loves you that much.  He loves you!

That, my friend, is why God’s love is over-the-top!

It is way up and over anything that we know.  Have you ever experienced this kind of love?  Can you even wrap your mind around it?

But wait, there’s more…

And get this…Christ did it voluntarily.  He chose to lay His life down for you and me.

In John 10:18 Jesus said,

 ^“No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.”

That’s right.  He could have spoken one word and it would have stopped. He could have called down legions of angels to put an end to it.  But Jesus chose to lay His life down.  He chose to complete His purpose for you and for me.

After all these years, this still brings me to my knees. Jesus was thinking about me when He was being whipped and mocked.  It was me on His mind as He carried His cross.  He was thinking about me as He hung on that same cross.  And He was thinking about you too.  You were on His mind when He chose to take the penalty of death.  His love for you…and me…is that great.

It is life changing

Let that settle in your heart.  Let it settle deep.  When it does, it is life changing.  Now live in it! Live in the knowledge that the God of all creation loves you that much! And if He loves you that much, will He not meet your needs?

Romans 8:32 (NIV)

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Know that He is for you!! God’s love for you is way over-the-top! Hang on to it.

So, let’s wrap it up. Remember we are using the acronym LOOK UP to explore God’s love for us. In my last post I talked about how God’s love brings us life.  Today, we covered just how over-the-top His love for us really is.

With the next post we will check out another “o”. What do you think it should be? Share your ideas with me!!  

Please take a minute and sign up to follow my blog. That will make it much easier for you to join me.

 Until then, I hope you will continue to LOOK UP!