"Who Do You Say That I Am?"
Matthew 16:15

Bible Bits
•  Why Do People Suffer?
•  The Bible Said it First
•  Five Misquoted Verses
•  What is Baptism?
•  Two Kinds of Sorrow
•  What is the Fear of God?
•  The Sovereignty of God
•  Pentecostalism
•  How Much God Loves You
•  What is Legalism?
•  Works and the Bible
•  King Saul and Identity
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
            T h e     J e s u s      P r o j e c t Because He Paid the Price"
 

How Much Does God Love You?
How do you know when someone loves you? One of the surest ways is when they do something that costs them. You husbands, ever take your wife her purse? Makes you look silly, right? Especially if you are near a bunch of guys. Maybe you didn't realize it, but you were loving your wife when you did that. Or how about that deal that fell through at the office, that everyone assumed was your fault? Defending yourself would put the responsibility onto the shoulders of those more deserving of the blame. But you avoid that, and you suffer. That's love. Then there's the shoe factory owner, having inherited the business from his father, who wants to know what kind of environment his employees work under. He quietly joins them on the floor, incognito. Day after day, he immerses himself in the menial work, joins the workers in their simple lunches, and tries hard to experience their working lives. But he never lets on that he is the one who signs their paychecks. Yet there he is, the owner of the company, belittling himself for the benefit of those under him. Humbling himself. God did these same three things for you. He did the most incredibly absurd thing in entering humanity, He suffered unjustly, and He humbled Himself like no one ever has before or since.

God Did the Absurd
God, born as a baby? The Almighty a man? Suffering ignobly, without a defense? Utterly absurd, and God admits it. Did you know God Himself calls what He did foolish?

"For the word of the cross is...foolishness..." I Corinthians 1:18

But lest you misunderstand, the Bible tells us God did the absurd in wisdom.

"...the foolishness of God is wiser than men..." I Corinthians 1:25

God Suffered Unjustly
God hurts. The Bible tells us God grieves, that His heart breaks. That He suffers every day.

"My sorrow is beyond healing, My heart is faint" Jeremiah 8:18

"God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day." Psalm 7:11 (see also Genesis 6:6)

More to the point, Jesus, God in the flesh, suffered at the hands of those He had created, yet not only did they not know Him, they mocked and abused Him.

"[He] who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously..." I Peter 2:22-23

God Was Humbled
The Bible says that God humbled Himself. Do you know what it means to humble yourself? In a few words, it means to have power and purposely not use it. Jesus did this.

"...although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself...and being found in the appearance as a man, He humbled Himself...to the point of death..." Philippians 2:6-8

God loves you! How much? Enough to act absurd, to suffer unjustly, and to be humbled, for you.
 

 
This site is dedicated to Jesus Christ, who made my life worth living.

Mike Nixon

Updated June 1, 2003    Like Motorcycles?