John 16.27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.
Jesus spoke these words to His 11 disciples just hours before He would be tried, lashed and crucified. He wanted them to know that in spite of what would happen to Him and them, His Father loved them. His love for them was because they loved Jesus, and believed that He came from The Father. Dear ones, we are loved of The Father for the very same reasons. That is not to dismiss the many passages of Scripture that admonish us to walk in obedience and holiness as an indication that we belong to Jesus. But the very root of all that we do in our Christian life stems from the fact that we are loved by The Father with a perfect love.
This perfect love of The Father is not a legal kind of a love. It is a love that is rooted in the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. As we once bore the consequences of being in Adam. We now enjoy the fruit of being in Christ. The relationship that we now have with God is a loving one, not one that is based on performance. It is that assurance, love and acceptance of The Fathers that inspires us to live our lives with hope and confidence. We now cry Abba Father to The One a Who sent His Son to die for our sins. We no longer need to be a slave of fear or worry, for He has given unto us the spirit of power, love and a sound mind. His perfect love casts out all fear. Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Glory to God!
We all struggle with God’s love for us. Especially when our circumstances are dark and gloomy. But there is only one manifestation spoken of in Scripture that proves God’s love for us. That is the cross of Jesus on Calvary. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. Because we are freely loved by God, we can now freely love one another.
