God is Love!

“The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.” – Psalm 145:8 NIV

Because “the Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love,” (Psalm 145:8)—we have been saved through the blood of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:7). Otherwise, we would probably have been already dead, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) This is because the word of God declares, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12) However, Jesus Christ took our death panalties and paid them at once by sacrificing His body on the cross (Colossians 2:13-15) Jesus Christ was crucified because not only to let us be in the freedom from sin (Hebrews 2:14-15), but He also wanted to show us that the world is full of sufferings, even though we haven’t experienced any sufferings yet.

Moreover, God, our heavenly Father (Ephesians 4:6) has given us chance to have eternal life at the end of the age. This is because we are still part of God’s creation, regardless the fact we have sinned. However, we have to obey Him until then by living the way that Jesus Christ did and doing what He wants us to do (Matthew 7:21). Nonetheless, most importantly, we ought to believe in Jesus Christ until the end of the age (John 3:16-18). For this reason, the word of God proclaims, “…the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Therefore, we ought to sacrifice our lives until the end of the age to gain eternal life, due to the fact that we are still sinners. Thus, for this reason Jesus Christ declares,

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. (Matthew 16:24-27)

Because sacrificing our lives for Jesus Christ’s sake is too hard—God has poured His Spirit into us to guide us to walk in His ways and statutes, and follow His commandments, decrees and precepts (John 14:15-17,26-27; Ezekiel 36:26-27). However, firstly, we must repent since the word of God says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” (Matthew 3:2) and then we have to read the Bible, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ, daily to become the righteousness of God. ‘For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”’ (Romans 1:17)

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Last of all, we have to keep thanking God for giving us the opportunity to live for Jesus Christ, even though it is hard (Matthew 7:13-14), as He is the way of the life and the truth (John 14:6)

… whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)