He Already Loved You...

Good morning, Immanuel. Jesus didn’t die in order to make the Father love you; He died precisely because the Father already loved you.

“But God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Photo by Jack Anstey on Unsplash

Jesus didn’t die in order to make the Father love us; He died precisely because the Father already loved us.

At the center of ultimate reality is not an angry Father, too holy to love sinners, being restrained by a loving Son willing to do anything to redeem us. If that were so, it would imply that the Father doesn’t freely delight in us but only agrees to save us for the sake of His Son. And if that were true, we would have every reason to suspect that the Father merely tolerates us, like a cosmic duty-bound dad.

But that is not the gospel! The good news is not that Jesus died in order to make the Father love us. The good news is that the Father already loved us, and from that love, He gave His Son. The death of Jesus is not what made the Father change His mind about us. The death of Jesus is a demonstration of what the Father had been thinking all along: “I love you!”

Dear friend, take comfort in knowing that the Father Himself loves you. The cross is not what convinces the Father to start loving you; it is the proof that He has always loved you!

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MONDAY MEMO

CHURCH-WIDE TENTH GENERATION GATHERING - Our Tenth Generation campaign is still underway (learn more here). We invite you to come out on Wednesday, November 8th at 6:30 pm to Immanuel for a church-wide Tenth Generation Gathering, where we will share important updates on our campaign thus far. We look forward to seeing you there!