God’s first act of love towards fallen mankind- The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them
1. God’s first act of love towards fallen mankind: The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21 NIV)
We find that our God is patient, compassionate, and loving in Genesis, the very first book of the Bible. Adam and Eve disobeyed him by eating from the forbidden tree- the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Yet, he didn’t cast them out immediately. He took the time to prepare garments for them to cover their modesty and protect them from the environment outside the Garden of Eden.
2. God is mindful of mankind
"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" (Psalm 8:3-4)
God has established two spheres: the heavens and the earth. The heavenly bodies all have their appointed place. Compared to the vastness of the outer space, the order and the importance of the celestial bodies, mankind is rather insignificant.
Human beings are, by nature, mere earthlings with a tiny presence in the limitless universe, and yet they are the particular objects of God's attention. The Creator has invested glory and honor in them. The verbs "mindful" and "care for" convey the care of God for mankind, who remembers positively by acting on behalf of the human race.
3. God is the Creator
What caused the universe to come into existence? The universe and everything in it can only come from the uncreated and the uncaused God. He is spirit and he is eternal. He always existed; there was never a time he didn't exist. Time, space, and matter do not apply to him. He is the Creator and not a part of the creation. His creation was an absolute creation, a creation of something out of nothing. Within the endless universe that God has created, mankind is the crown of his creation. He loves them and we have a covenant relationship with him.
4. Science is but a search for God
In 1865, the Congress of Liege declared, "Science has made God unnecessary." But it is not as easy as declaring such a statement. Deep mysteries surround the universe. Science resolves many problems and answers many questions each year. But the solutions and the answers only add more to the great mystery of the universe.
The Bible is not a scientific book. Explaining the laws of science is not its main concern. The purpose of the Bible is to speak to us about God. The Bible is an extraterrestrial book. It is God making contact with human beings. The Bible touches on world history so far as man is concerned. It is the history of the beginning of man to his redemption that was won on the cross. The Bible is only scientific in the sense that it touches the cosmos and reveals the truth of the origin of the universe and life. Mankind is imprisoned in a tiny globe in an endless universe. Scientific research and space explorations must be viewed as attempts to understand more of the creation of God and not as efforts to disprove his existence.
5. God demonstrated his love
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 3:8).
That God is love is explained by what God did. He sent his one and only Son into the world. Love involves concrete actions. God's love required him to send his Son.
Love must never be conceived of as a "natural" experience of the natural man. There is a "natural" love, but it must not be confused with divine love (agape). This love originates from God, became manifest in and through Jesus the Son, and then characterizes the lives of believers.
6. We love with God's love
The love with which we love is not our own. It is always God's love in us. Because we abide in the Father and the Son, the love also becomes our love. So we love him with the gift of his love. We are also able to love our fellow believers with the love God has loved us with.
Paul explores the depths of God’s love and finds it in the cross of Christ. Behind the death of Christ for sinners is the love of God. God's love for us defines what true love requires… the commitment to sacrifice one's most beloved possession for another's gain. So for God, love required that he send "his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10). Therefore, God's love in us requires deeds by which we show our love for one another. Just as God's children must be holy because he is holy; and merciful because he is merciful, so they must love others because he loves them.
7. God is faithful and just
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
Walking in the light is demonstrated not by the denial of sin but by confessing it and abandoning it. This action links us to God's mercy. Those who confess and leave their sins become connected to God. We can confess our sins fearlessly and in confidence because God is both faithful and just.
We have so many problems; from minor and major personal and domestic problems to other problems like wars and conflicts, disunity and intolerance, poverty and hunger, natural disasters and calamities, sickness and death, and many more. But our greatest problem is sin, which has separated us from God.
The Bible says "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." God is perfect and holy, and our sins separate us from God forever. The Bible says "The wages of sin is death." The good news is that "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Jesus is the unblemished sacrificial Lamb of God and died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.
8. Come to the Saviour today
Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, and now he is in heaven with God, his Father. He offers us the gift of eternal life -- of living forever with him in heaven if we believe in him. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me." God reaches out in love to you and wants you to be his child. "As many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name." Repent in humility as a wretched sinner unworthy of his love, ask Jesus Christ to forgive your sins, and come into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour now.
Selie Visa