"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world down not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure."
What wonderful, reassuring verses! Today in my Biblical History and Literature class we talked about what are bodies will be like in Heaven. So interesting to think about. Even though it is impossible to know exactly what we will be like, we know that they will be imperishable, glorious, powerful, spiritual, and pure like it says in verse 3. There's nothing more exciting than thinking about our future in Heaven. To actually be in God's arms and to be able to look Him in the eyes and see all the love He has for us is something that almost always brings me to tears when I think about it.
Thinking about what God has in store for my life brings me so much joy. I know He is in control and that whatever happens is His will and everything is ultimately out of His perfect love. Being at MLC, I could be almost anywhere imaginable in a few years when I start teaching, and it's completely up to Him!
I played piano for Bethlehem, a WELS church in Lakeville, this last weekend and the sermon was about God's love. The Pastor talked about how it's easy for us to relate our human relationships to our relationship with God - thinking that in order for God to be on our side and show us love and kindness, we need to show Him love and kindness. The Devil tricks us into thinking that God's love is only conditional. But the truth is that our Savior, loves us no matter what. No matter how horribly we may treat Him with our sins, no matter how many times we fail at being perfect - His love for us never fails.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[j]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 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.
I hope all of you had a wonderful day, and are doing well! I am praying for you all :)
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Thanks, Jessica. Even though your sermon sounded a lot different than ours, it spoke the same truth---that the law and the gospel aren't "mixed." God's love is unconditional for us--it doesn't change when we do or don't follow the law. He grace and love is ever-present. This is why we want to love him back. I needed this wonderful reminder, too.
ReplyDeleteTears, Jessica. Thank you for your well thought out post and words of truth! I miss that church so much sometimes, so thanks too for sharing the sermon message with us. :) God is too gracious to understand - I never want to take his love or mercy for granted!
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