We often sing a song in corporate
worship entitled, “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us”, the text is awfully powerful. I think that the text is so powerful because
it calls us to grips to the depths of God’s love. The only way that we can remotely understand
and comprehend the depths of that love, is through the understanding of the depths
and severity of our own sin. The text
actually combats our natural and sinful inclination in which we are tempted to
think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. Though while none of us would readily admit
it, we more often than not, live our lives as if we have something to offer
God, that there is something that God somehow needs from us. While the
reality is, as the song says, we are “wretch”, people of a despicable
character, who undeserving have been made a treasure.
Furthermore, the reality that this text
continues to reveal, is that this undeserving grace did not come without a
price, it did not come without a cost. There
was much pain physically and emotionally, as God who was fully human
experienced not only physical torture, but humiliation as well. This grace did not come without a price, it
was our guilt upon His shoulders, it was our mocking voices who were crucifying
Him, it was our sin that brought Him death, which brought us life. This is the depth of the love of the Father,
this is the depth of our wretchedness, this is the depth of our salvation.
Therefore as redeemed wretches, what can
we boast in apart from Jesus Christ?
Apart from Him we have nothing to offer, we bring nothing to the table; we
brought guilt upon His shoulders, He gave us life. Why should we gain this undeserved grace,
this reward? Our only response can be
that Jesus Is Lord! Christ died for the
ungodly.
Anthony Carter states this point well in an
article at Ligonier.org: “All
because of the love of God. Christ left heaven. He laid aside glory, concealing
His majesty. He subjected Himself to the creature’s scorn, outcast from a world
He created. He suffered demonic attack, lies, and public ridicule. Friends
forsook Him. He was brutally beaten, stripped, and put to open shame. Spat upon
and slapped, publicly and shamefully executed, He assumed the guilt and
punishment for every sin we ever committed. He reconciled us to God and secured
our acceptance before God. Why? Because justice demanded it and our
justification required it. Because He loved us even before we ever knew Him or
understood what He was doing.
Thankfully, now we do.”
How Deep The Father’s Love for Us!
For while we were still weak, at the right
time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous
person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God
shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8
