HIS LOVE, HIS MERCIES, HIS FAITHFULNESS - PART 4

SATURDAY 13 APRIL 2024

HIS LOVE, HIS MERCIES,

HIS FAITHFULNESS - PART 4

I am still discussing the steadfast love of God because the absence of His loving presence in any person's life is like living an unfulfilled life of unworthiness, weariness, and negative outlook of sin and guilt consciousness, without the beauty of His grace and improved spiritual well-being.

If you do not relate with the sufficient knowledge of God's love, it will be hard to always cultivate and sustain a positive inspiration from God's truth, and your faith in the things of God will be floating without the constant influence and illumination of His Spirit.

Reference: Lamentations 3:22-23 English Standard Version (ESV)

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

Apostle Paul stated, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword...For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 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" (Romans 8:35,38,39 NIV).

The question: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" from apostle Paul, gives us a sense of marital steadfast love because we have come into an intimate union and relationship with Christ as a result of His sacrifice of atonement and victory on the cross. Since the Bible says that we are united with Christ, it implies that we are no longer separated from Him as the old life indicated, according to the passage below:

"Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:12-13 NLT).

This is the reason salvation and eternal are gifts of that union and relationship, meaning that they are not a reward for good deeds but free gifts of steadfast love, full of eternal benefits. And so, Paul registered his conviction that nothing would be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. God Himself declared the eminence of His steadfast love in the Scripture numbered as Hosea 2:19, saying, (to His reclaimed bride) I'm going to marry you, and this time it'll be forever in righteousness and justice. Our covenant will reflect a loyal love and great mercy (The Voice).

Beyond Israel, the book of Hosea offered the possibility of salvation yet to come in Christ Jesus, and this proposal has already come to pass. How did God accomplish this with us? He raised us up together with Christ from the death of sin to the newness of life and in the light of that virtue, we became the body of Christ.

Notably, apostle Paul mentioned the strength of our union with Christ while addressing the union of wives and husbands. From that perspective, he stated, "Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. For a husband is the head of His wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Saviour of His body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up His life for her" (Ephesians 5:22-25 NLT).

Beloved, nothing in this world and in heaven shall separate us from the love of Christ, let alone getting us to the level of divorcing from it, for the one who is united and joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him (1st Corinthians 6:17 AMP). God has paid our bride price with the blood of the Lamb (1st Corinthians 6:19 AMP). And someday, Jesus Christ will come for His ready bride (Revelation 19:7 NIV). Therefore continue to grow and remain rooted in His steadfast love. Stay tuned for part 5. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - 1 Chronicles 16:34; Psalm 13:5; Psalm 26:3; Isaiah 63:7.

Guided Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I thank you profusely for coming to earth in a humble manner to justify me freely by divine grace and to offer me eternal salvation, which assures me of the steadfast love of God and the emblem of His peace in my intimate relationship and fellowship with the Godhead. And to God be the glory, Amen!