God is Crazy About You!

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Elizabeth Welte in Freedom Fighters

I hear a lot of reasons why people reject God, as well as lists of what they think He, who is ‘Absolute Perfection,’ has done wrong. Often they go on talking about how they would design life differently and complain about whatever frustrates them on a daily basis. Some talk about how they would rather believe a religion that offers rules to keep them in line, rather than a way of living that offers hope and love. Me… I just wonder why He loves me at all… Why would One who is ‘light and joy’ leave a place of peace and contentment just to save a sinner like me?

That question really comes into focus around Christmas. At Christmas, we talk of Jesus’ birth in a cow stall; ‘The Lord’ born in a wooden box so He could live a life like mine, facing the frustrations of sin, and die a sinners death… in my place so I could be forgiven and declared justified before a holy God… I have a hard time wrapping my finite mind around that one; it’s easier for me to just know God is crazy about me!

Paul puts this into perspective when He writes, “Though he was God, Jesus did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross… (so those who believe will know hope and love)” (Phil 2:6-8). Isaiah even told us what to look for when he described the coming of the Christ this way, “Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care” (Isaiah 53:1-3). And then, Isaiah went in to explain in detail what Paul could only reflect on. He accurately described Jesus’ life as, “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:4-6). With All I have been through, every objection I ever had has melted away before the light of His Word and how it has remained true regardless of my circumstances. Knowing full well that I am a sinner who is saved by His grace, I am left with only this one question, ‘why me… why are you so crazy about me?’ The answer is found in the very thing we reject, His ‘Absolutely Perfect’ nature is Love. It’s not a question for God ‘who to love’; He ‘is Love’ and therefore loves me regardless of my sin. What hope and joy that reality brings! He loves me and ‘o the joy that fills my soul! Something happened that day I believed when He touched me, and made me whole.’

I pray that you too might see past the rejections of this world to The One who chose a wooden box over kingly rights, so He could touch your life in a way that would bring you hope and love.

Choose wisely…

“But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels (sinners like me).” (Isaiah 53:10-12)

Praying you choose Christ today.

 

Written by David Brown: David Brown is a husband, father, grandfather, Pastor with a Masters of Religious Studies and a Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Religions. Dave is the Associate Pastor of Pemberton’s First Baptist Church. He is the author of two devotional books, “From a Chair by the Window.” And “#PrayerWinsThe Day”.

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This Week’s Verse to Memorize: “This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. ¹² If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. ¹³ If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2:11-13