“…behold, I will make them come and bow down before
your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.”
Revelation 3:9b
Imagine with me that you are at this event where the faithful though small group of believers in the Philadelphia church are having something amazing happen. “…those of the synagogue of Satan…” are bowing down at the church members’ feet. This future scenario has a surprising purpose. The Lord Jesus in speaking to His family members tells them that some day their very enemies will finally know Jesus loved them. He didn’t want these liars to recant their unbelief or to cry out that the believers had been right all of the time. What Jesus said really surprised me and caused me to ponder this deeply. As this message was for the church, clearly it had a message for them and us. It was overwhelming to get just an inkling of how much God wants us to KNOW that He LOVES us completely, fully, all of the time, in every situation. Let us look at Romans 8:35, 38-39.
“Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Who but God loves like this, who died for us in our place while we didn’t even know Him! Who loves us even when we doubt Him, choose wrongly, are living without hope? Who has succumbed to the deceit of the evil one when he says we certainly aren’t worthy of God’s love? Who loves even though the circumstances of life make us question His love? God does, because He is love and as His children, nothing can separate us from His love. In the Romans passage, there are 17 things that cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. It is a comprehensive list.
If you begin to feel ‘unloved’, you are not listening to the right voice!
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
I John 4:10
Reflection:
Why do you think God wants you to know He loves you all of the time?
What has made you question His love in the past or even now?
How is God calling you to think differently?
Francie Overstreet
EFCC Member