God’s Compelling Love
ICS Daily Devotions
Galatians 3:13-14 (NKJV) Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
God has placed a conscience in the hearts of all men. The conscience is the moral bearing in people regardless of whether they are atheists or religious persons. There will be a conviction and condemnation in their hearts whenever they commit something wrong until their conscience is seared or burnt due to repeated sinning (1 Timothy 4:2). However, there will still be a nagging reminder that they are sinners, imperfect, and unworthy. Whether they acknowledge that there is a God or have been taught that there is no God, they won’t be able to escape from the knowledge that something is held against them because they will be reminded of their wrong through the voice of their conscience no matter how faint it has become.
God did not wait for us to process whether we were sinners, self-righteous, or in need of God. He loves us so much that He established the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12:1-3) to rightfully deal with the sin issue that separated us from Him. The Jews are God’s chosen people through the Abrahamic covenant to reconcile mankind to Himself. Through the Abrahamic covenant, God was able to rightfully, justly, and righteously send Jesus to take the place of mankind. God placed the sin of mankind on His only Son who was without sin to be sin for us.
We are reconciled to God through the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ. The whole of mankind can be saved through faith in the complete work of Jesus Christ even though the covenant was with the Jews because we have the absolute forgiveness of sin through the blood of Jesus Christ. It is the abundant grace of God through His plan of salvation to restore sinners to Himself. Jesus came to die for the ungodly. All of us are ungodly and have no part to play in this plan of salvation except to receive all that Jesus Christ has done for us by faith. Salvation = Grace + Nothing on man’s part.
It is through the cleansed work of God in our hearts that the conscience that used to prick us can be put to rest. We are appeased with God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. You and I are the beneficiaries of God’s compelling love shown through the atonement work of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we need to respond to His cry to reach the lost because we are running out of time.
Sermon Series: God’s Compelling Love
