The CONFIDENCE of God

1 John 4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

The Son of God has come in the flesh to make Himself the price paid to redeem your immortal soul. His death on the cross satisfied the total debt owed for your sin, which has kept you separated from God.

This is why Jesus had to come in the flesh. The debt for the sin of flesh had to be paid by the sacrifice of flesh, and Jesus came to offer Himself in your place, that this sacrifice be accomplished. No one else could perform this substitutionary role on your behalf. Only Jesus was without sin. The debt of that which is imperfect can only be paid by that which is perfect.

All other solutions fall short. You cannot earn your salvation by works, no matter how numerous or how wonderful they may be. Salvation is by grace alone, it is the gift of God, in the Person of Jesus Christ.

By His entry into the world He created.

To think about God entering into His creation is about the most wonderful thought a person could think. (Why it is GOOD to think of it often, and why those who choose not to think of it at all seem the most miserable of all.)

God has created man in His image, capable of love. Man is capable of giving love, and capable of receiving love. On a strictly physical plane - in which observable matter is all there is – and there is no God - how can love be explained?

Love exists because God IS love. Love is the most precious commodity in God’s creation, because God IS love. We are at our greatest point of weakness when we are separated from love. Alternately, our greatest sense of strength is found in the knowledge of His love.

It is interesting that on a human level we ‘feel’ love. It is an emotion. When it comes to the love of God, we know it. God’s love is received by the knowledge of God, through His Word, and by His Spirit. That the loving sacrifice of Jesus has been accepted by The Father, (as proven by Jesus’ resurrection,) is the greatest source of confidence any man can have because it places all confidence in the knowledge of the love of God.

-Pastor Bill